


Hearts and Minds

by speccygeekgrrl



Series: MST3K Alternate Universes [27]
Category: Incredibles (Pixar Movies), Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Artificial Intelligence, Banter, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Dancing, Double Penetration, Emotional Manipulation, Established Relationship, Honesty, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Kinga does good things but man she wants to kill some people, Kinga knows what she wants and no one is going to stop her from getting it, Love Confessions, M/M, Max didn't know what he was getting into but he's pretty sure he doesn't mind, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mind Control, Multi, Partnership, Pillow Talk, Porn with Feelings, Rescue Missions, Superheroes, Supersuits, Supervillains, Teambuilding, Teasing, Threesome - F/M/M, if you think Edna Mode and Kinga Forrester wouldn't get along I don't know what to tell you, poor Jonah just gets swept up in the choices other people are making but he's okay with it, well it's really empathic projection but emotional manipulation is true too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-05 16:10:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17922092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl
Summary: Kinga Forrester, formerly known as Ruby Regent, hates that she's been forced to give up her villainous career and her unbridled ability to dominate the will of everyone around her, but her casualty-free track record when she's captured means she qualifies for rehabilitation under the supervision of a superhero. Partnering up with a dorky little do-gooder with empathy powers seems pretty dumb, until she finds out that he's already got a partner, and that the three of them don't make a half bad team. Maybe she can trust these guys. She's done worse things with people she trusted less.





	1. a change of mind

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this story since Incredibles 2 came out, but I just got REALLY into working on it the past week or so. And, you know, I wanted something I really liked to be my 100th work in the MST3K tag, so this seemed like a good choice. I'm so hyped about this story that I'm commissioning fanart. That's how you know I'm super serious, lol.
> 
>  
> 
> [There's a soundtrack. You really should expect this by now.](https://open.spotify.com/user/speccygeek/playlist/6UofyCvBAYNsEb3y9YSlpA?si=I83dxm1zQ3CsLCIXtND4EA)

In Kinga's very scant defense, she hadn't actually killed anyone in the time she'd spent terrorizing Gizmonic City. Property damage out the wazoo, but no human deaths. That was all the defense she needed to get herself out of prison and into the Super Rehabilitation Program, though. 

Yeah, she was collared, but no one had managed to create a device that could completely stifle a super's powers yet. She was just working at about a quarter capacity now, which was enough to help and not quite enough to harm. Mind control dialed that far down was basically just psychic suggestion, and with her effective range limited to the sound of her voice, she went from terrifying supervillain to super support staff, which was still better than being super locked up in super solitary confinement as too much of a danger to be allowed contact with other humans.

The whole buddy aspect of the SRP she could have done without, though. Rehabilitation was one thing, but being actually sent out into the field with some doofy superhero to do good was not her idea of a good time. The super she'd been paired up with was some dorky-looking little guy with empathy powers, which— totally lame, but he could feel exactly how lame she thought he was and behind his silver mask his dark eyes were always a little bit hurt when she met them. 

She thought he should call himself the Kicked Puppy, but he was one of those dorks whose real name sounded unlikely enough to be a super name: Max Masters. At least he looked stylish— Edna Mode might be insufferable, but she could flatter just about any body type with her super suits, so even this short and chunky nerd came off as heroic. Of course, Edna wouldn't work with villains, but as a part of the rehab effort Kinga at least got a sweet mask to keep her identity a secret.

The nice thing about being forced to work with Max, though, was how often he teamed up with Doctor Sunshine. The very first time she'd been taken out into the field, the other super had shown up a couple minutes after they did, and... if she was being honest, the two of them made an effective team without her. Doctor Sunshine's light manipulation was so sophisticated that he could produce detailed holograms that could cover whole city blocks, diverting civilians and confusing villains. Paired with directional broadcast empathy radiating anxiety where it was dangerous to shunt people away from the scene of the crime, and the two of them had a nearly perfect system to prevent hapless standersby from becoming casualties. Kinga hadn't been entirely sure what her role should be until she got a little closer and recognized the villain wreaking chaos as her old friend Synthia. Of course, Kinga had been stripped of her supervillain uniform under the terms of her rehabilitation, and it took a minute for the banner of her red hair to be recognized without her normal purple and black mask and costume underneath it.

"Ruby Regent. No kidding. Didn't you get snagged?"

"Sad but true," Kinga said, coming closer to the blonde villainess who was currently placing explosives every few feet along the foundation of a skyscraper. "I'm a civilian now."

"Bummer. What's with the new mask then?"

"Old habits die hard. Who likes being identifiable anyways? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, y'know, these assholes denied my henchman's loan so he could pay for his husband's cancer treatment, so now I'm going to blow up their headquarters."

"Sounds reasonable to me." When Synthia bent to place another brick of C4, Kinga glanced over her shoulder to find Max peering around the edge of a building across the street. He made a broad _what the hell?_ gesture, and Kinga rolled her eyes. "You know, you could do more damage without the mass destruction, though."

"Nah, I think I want the big explosion. Gotta make a statement to get noticed, you know how it is."

"Don't I just," Kinga said. "But taking the building hostage is more productive than outright blowing it up, isn't it? You're not even giving them a chance to give in to your demands."

"They had a chance already, that's why I'm bringing the fire."

"They didn't know who they were dealing with before. Which henchman, anyways?"

"Rickey. They think Terry will be okay, it was stage two when they caught it, but it's crazy expensive and you know how hard it is to provide health care when you're a small-business villain."

"Oh, yeah, totally. Look, why don't you call the media before you blow the joint? At least give them one shot to bow to your will knowing what it is."

"I guess that makes sense," Synthia said, and she straightened up from placing another block of C4 on the cornerstone of the building. "Since when do you go for mercy? You've always been a destroy-first kind of girl."

"I'm older and wiser," Kinga said flippantly. _And being closely monitored by a kinda telepathic do-gooder who will have no problem throwing me back into prison if I go back to villainy_ , she added to herself. Synthia snorted in disbelief and turned to face her, arms folded over her chest.

"You're compromised, aren't you?"

"I'm offended that you'd even suggest such a thing. Put it out of your mind." Anyone else's flip remark was a weighted order on Kinga's lips, and Synthia blinked a couple of times and then aimed a puzzled look at Kinga. "I think you were going to call the bank," Kinga said, and the puzzlement cleared.

"Oh, of course. Thank you."

"Why don't you give me your detonator? So you don't accidentally trigger it while you're on the phone." Synthia handed it over, and Kinga smiled at her. "Thanks, Synth." As soon as Synthia's back was turned, Kinga booked it back to where Max and Doctor Sunshine were hiding. Doctor Sunshine took the detonator and thoroughly disabled it, removing the batteries and cutting a few wires for good measure.

"Good job," Max said, sounding more surprised than she thought he had a right to. She rolled her eyes and started walking away. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Home. We're done here, right?" She kept walking and no one chased after her.

Since then, she'd found herself teaming up with them about once a week. Max would show up, she'd put on her mask, and either before or at the crisis site they'd be met by Doctor Sunshine. The second time was at midnight and Max brought her a coffee when they picked her up together. The third time she very nearly came home with a stray cat, but Sunshine took it to the vet first, promising that she’d get it as soon as it was fixed and healthy.

This time, she'd been picked up from an afternoon yoga class, and she spent most of the ride to the scene of the crime thinking about how they were all wearing spandex except theirs were cool supersuits and hers wasyoga leggings with a little hole in the seam on her left thigh that she hadn’t noticed until she was in the middle of pigeon pose. She deserved a damn costume if she was going to be doing this so regularly. Once they were on foot, she started considering the fit and style of her companions' costumes, and then she sort of zoned out staring at Doctor Sunshine's cute butt while he cast an illusion over the intersection they were moving through.

It wasn't even a supervillain this time. It was a teenage girl in a fourteen foot monster truck indiscriminately smashing food carts and crumpling cars in a mad spree of destruction. The three of them stood in a narrow alley and watched the truck tear around the street, into the park, and back into the street.

"So... I don't know what to do about this," Sunshine said. "We’re not really equipped to make this stop."

"Don't be a quitter, sunbeam," Kinga said, and rolled her neck to one side until it popped. "Leave it to me."

"What are you going to do?" Max asked, and she popped her neck on the other side and grinned at him.

"I have talents besides a superpower, you know," she said, and took off running on an intersect course with the truck. She leaped onto the top of a car and then threw herself at the truck as it passed, praying that her attempt to look super cool wasn't going to end with her smeared on the pavement.

One hand caught the door of the truck, and she pulled herself up, silently congratulating herself for not skipping arm day as she braced against the side of the truck, threw open the door, and dived in. She ended up mostly on top of the girl, who shrieked and hit the gas before Kinga knocked her out of the driver's seat. The girl got a fistful of Kinga's hair and yanked, and Kinga spat, "Be _still_ , child." She slumped like a puppet with cut strings, and Kinga spent a couple harried minutes trying to get the hot-wired truck to turn off. She at least got it to stop, which was really all she needed, and when she leaned out the door and yelled, "A little help, please?" both men sprang into action. Max tended to the stunned girl when they got her out of the truck, and Sunshine swung up into the cab. Kinga heard a boyish cackle of delight.

"Oh man, I never get to play with these!" he cheered. She rolled her eyes.

"It's not a fucking toy! Turn it off!" He did what she said immediately, and then pouted at her.

"You're a buzzkill."

"Wah wah, the mean villain lady won't let me have any fun. Grow up, Sunshine."

"You _are_ being mean."

"I'll make it up to you later," she said flippantly, and his brows arched in clear interest. The sound of sirens started echoing down the city blocks, and she leaned down next to the girl. "Stay here and be good for the police when they arrive," she said into her ear, and the girl sighed and didn't move. Kinga rolled her shoulders, popped her neck on both sides again, and started walking back to where they'd come from. The scene secured and the culprit quiescent, the heroes looked at each other, shrugged, and walked after her. They made it half a block before Sunshine coughed lightly.

"So, uh... what was that back there? I thought you were all about mind control."

"Oh, that's right, you didn't get to see her file," Max said. "They showed it to me before I agreed to partner her for the SRP. She's A rated in all kind of gymnastics."

"Why?" Sunshine asked her, and she rolled her eyes.

"It's called a hobby, sunbeam. I started when I was a kid. Now I'm really good at it. That happens when you do something for a long time."

"You’re being really caustic today," Max said. "It's not aimed at me so it's almost funny. Almost."

"I don't really mind," Sunshine said easily. "I think it's cool that she has hidden talents. I wonder if Edna would see her, since she's been working with us." Kinga quirked a brow at him, surprised.

"You're going to get me a Mode supersuit," she said skeptically, and he shrugged one shoulder.

"Edna and I go back. She might do me that favor."

"Why would _you_ do _me_ that favor?"

"Because you are way too badass to be running around in ripped yoga pants," he said, and she looked down to find that tear in the seam now ran from her knee to the crotch where the edge of her lacy panties was just showing.

"God _dammit_."

"I wasn't trying to look," he said. "But it's kind of noticeable. Given that the fabric is black and your skin is very pale."

"Oh, are you noticing my skin?" she asked archly, and Max rolled his eyes.

"All of your skin is very pale, it's not hard to notice," Max said. "Your whole... ginger thing was part of your schtick. You can't fault him for pointing it out."

"I can fault anyone I want for anything I want at any time and you can't stop me," she said, and walked ahead of them. There was no way she should have been able to outpace Sunshine's endless legs, but she found herself far enough ahead of them to not hear what they were saying to each other, and not realizing they were talking until she glanced over her shoulder and caught them at it. She paused and turned around and waited for them to get closer. "You should come over here," she said conversationally, trying not to exert her influence and not sure if she succeeded when Doctor Sunshine ambled over to her followed by Max a moment later.

"How can I help you?" Sunshine asked, and her lips curled upward.

"You could start by kissing me," she said, and Max made an unhappy sound.

"Letting you steal my partner wasn't in the agreement I signed," he said, and Kinga's brows arched.

"Partner...?"

"It's an encompassing definition," Sunshine said. "We're, uh..."

"We're close," Max said. "That's why we're so effective together. We have a lot of practice working in concert."

"Okay, but does that have to mean I don't get kissed?" Kinga asked irritably. "I get too much energy after a real fight and nothing's as good at burning it as getting laid." Max shot a look at Doctor Sunshine, who stooped to whisper something in the shorter super's ear that left him blushing behind his mask.

"That's inappropriate," Max said weakly, and Kinga's eyes lit up.

"Good. Being appropriate is boring. Let's do something inappropriate. You can kiss me too, it doesn't have to be him. You're not that bad for a do-gooder." She hadn't meant to put a push behind her words, but she had to have done so when Max kissed her promptly. She threaded her fingers through his silvered curls to keep him in place and kissed him back, and heard Doctor Sunshine gasp.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this here," he suggested, and she felt his broad hand caress her back. "I do have a secret lair, though..."

"You're not supposed to bring me there," Kinga said. "In case I renege on my redemption and come after you."

"Are you planning on coming after me?"

"Before would be better." She could have crowed when his eyes widened and a smile tilted his lips.

"Would you mind if I blindfolded you until we're there?"

"Kinky. I like it." Max turned a darker shade of red and made a squeaky sound, and Kinga laughed. "Oh, come on, how innocent can you possibly still be at your age?"

"I'm not innocent, I'm— I'm trying not to get us both booted from the SRP for breaking the fraternization clause!"

"They should want us to fraternize," Kinga said. "How else do they expect loyalties to change?"

"Is this how to change your loyalties?" Sunshine asked thoughtfully, stopping next to his big, blocky super vehicle and reaching for her hand. "It seems like a bad thing to rely on, as far as that goes."

"I don't know if it's a good idea," Max said, but that didn't stop him from eyeing his partner and his assignment with interest when they kissed beside the bright yellow vehicle. "But I kinda wanna see what happens anyways." Kinga was practically buzzing with excitement that didn't diminish at all when Max tied a strip of fabric over her eyes; she wondered if he had the same kind of trouble not using his power that she did with hers. She certainly felt more excited once they were closed up together in a small space, and it seemed to spike when his fingers brushed her skin, but that could be her natural reaction to being touched as easily as an effect of his empathy projecting outward.

"I haven't brought anyone but Max to my stronghold before," Sunshine said conversationally. Kinga could tell that they were moving, but not the direction they were going. "Especially not a villain."

"Former villain," Max said.

"Ehhh," Kinga said. "Reformed villain."

"Yeah, that's more accurate," he conceded.

"Have you, uh... seduced many heroes?" Sunshine asked, and she snorted.

"Nah. Not really my type, you know? I tend to like bad boys and dangerous women."

"Oh. So we're just convenient?"

"Don't get prickly with me," she said, not trying to prevent it from being an inexorable command. "A month ago you'd never have considered it either."

"No, I wouldn't have. But I'm putting serious thought into it now."

"Are you changing our minds?" Max asked. "Because I had made my mind up not to cross that line with you if we ever got to it, and now I'm second guessing that decision."

"Not purposefully," she said, which was about as accurate as she could get. Not to say she wasn't doing what she was pretty sure she was doing, merely that it wasn't intentional. "If you want to be sure I'm not influencing you, you kind of have to stay away from me. Which I'd prefer you not do, for a number of reasons. Or you could just keep me too preoccupied to talk..." 

At least she was pretty sure it was his own idea when he kissed her this time. She heard a quiet _oh_ that had to be Sunshine and her toes curled. This was probably going to be a bad idea, but damn, she wanted it to happen. She'd never been the type to make good decisions anyways, the past few weeks aside. It was about time for another mistake.

"We're here," Sunshine said. Kinga couldn't even tell when they stopped. She wondered if her sense of forward momentum would carry her through the night or if she'd have to think about what she was doing before it was done. A slight tug behind her head loosed the blindfold, and she pulled it off immediately, looking around the inside of the super vehicle before following Sunshine and Max out of it and into an echoing rocky chamber full of all kinds of expensive and interesting toys: lots of very nice cars, a two-seater plane, was that a fucking _tank_?

"This way...." Max took off his silver mask and rubbed his eyes before he looked at Kinga with a wry smile and gestured over to what looked like a workshop in one corner of the echoing room. He looked older without it on, the shadows under his eyes and the creases at their corners telling enough of a story about a man who cared too deeply to stand by if he could help. Stripped of the accouterments of a superhero, it was the face of a tired, overworked middle aged man, hoping for a respite from his endless duties. Usually that wouldn't do it for her, but Kinga caught herself feeling fond of the little nerd, and wondered how much of that was her and how much of that was his fondness leaking into the atmosphere like so much emotional pollution. "I like working with you," he said, which didn't clarify anything. "You keep things interesting."

"Welcome to the Fortress of Sol-itude," Sunshine said, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Was that a solar pun?"

"Obviously."

"God, you're lame," she said, rolling her eyes. He just smirked at her.

"Coming from you? Not an insult." She stalked over to him, one eyebrow arched.

"Trust me, I meant it as one."

"I think you're just being prickly because you like my secret lair," he said, smirk widening to a grin when she didn't deny it, just huffed and reached up to touch his mask.

"Don't tell me you're going to leave your mask on this whole time," she said, tracing her fingertips where it curved to follow his cheekbone, and he closed his eyes and lowered his head to allow her to remove it. As soon as she got a clear view of his face she gasped. " _You're_ Doctor Sunshine?"

"I'm afraid so." Anyone with any interest in technology was familiar with Jonah Heston; he was at the top of the Gizmonic City technorati and known for being a philanthropist as well as a genius inventor. He looked sheepishly down at her. "I know it's a cliche, but—"

"You don't have to defend yourself," Max said. "Your real identity is the furthest thing from offputting."

"Nothing about you is offputting," Kinga said, hooking a finger into the throat of his golden supersuit and tugging down until he stooped low enough to be kissed. "But I'm pretty sure you know that," she added before pressing her lips to his. Jonah squeaked when she caught his lip between her teeth.

"It's easier to kiss him when he's sitting down," Max said. "Trust me."

"Aren't you helpful," she said. "Show me a place I can do that, then." Max took her hand and she nearly staggered at the proof that he wasn't any better at reining in his powers than she was in moments like this, affection and concern buffeting her mind like strong winds pushing her in the direction they wanted to go. "Oh—!"

"Yeah, you kind of have to brace yourself before you touch him," Jonah said, sounding amused behind her. "And there's really no bracing against you. This is such a bad idea for me.”

“Oh yeah?” She couldn’t say much more than that without pushing him, and she didn’t want to do that.

“Yeah. I’m absolutely not about to stop, but I probably should.”

“I’m usually the person who tells him to stop,” Max said. “But like I said, I want to see what happens.” They came to a door, and Jonah put his hand on the scanner next to it.

“ _Welcome, Jonah,_ ” a neutral female voice said, and Kinga looked up curiously.

“Oh, that’s just Magic Voice,” Jonah said. “Hm, now I don’t know if I should put you in the system if you’ll be coming around here, or if that’s just planting the seeds of a sudden but inevitable betrayal.”

“If it makes you feel any better about it, I’ve never killed anyone and I’d never start with you.”

“Hold off on it,” Max said. “She shouldn’t be here without one of us, and Magic Voice can give her access to the places she needs to go.”

“Still managing to be the voice of reason?” Kinga asked, and he just huffed as Jonah opened another door that lead into a ridiculously fancy living room. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. A fireplace _and_ a water feature? Who designed this place?”

“I did,” Jonah said. “I don’t care what you say, it’s awesome. I have a great sense of design.”

“For a high schooler, maybe.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize my audience was going to be a basic white girl with deferred megalomaniacal aspirations. Let me guess, you prefer the fireplace.”

“I don’t like your tone,” she said, not contradicting him at all. 

“I don’t like you insulting me. But here we are.” He waved toward the couch that was facing the fireplace. “How’s this for your purposes?”

“Sit down and I’ll find out.” She didn’t like the smirk on his face either, but that could be removed through straightforward means which she applied as soon as he sat down, stepping between his legs and bowling him back against the couch with a forceful kiss that he only belatedly lifted his hands to moderate. She pulled back after a moment of him pushing her back and pointedly glanced down at his hands on her breasts. “A high schooler,” she repeated sarcastically, and he flushed and moved his hands to her waist.

“Well, when you flung yourself at me like that, I was just trying to protect myself.”

“I can’t handle this protagonist/antagonist flirtation style,” Max said, sitting down next to Jonah and shaking his head. “I’m a peacemaker. This is too aggressive.”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Kinga said, rolling her eyes. “Either of you. I… I kind of enjoy working with the two of you. I feel like I’m a valuable addition to your team.”

“You are,” Jonah said. “We focused on containment and prevention before, but we’ve always been better at reducing casualties than catching evildoers. You’ve made us more effective. And it’s fun working with you.”

“...you really think so?” 

“Oh god yeah. You’re hilarious. And gorgeous. And still a little bit terrifying. I’m glad I didn’t come up against you at full power or I never would have stood a chance.” 

“Now you’re just flattering me,” she said, preening a little as she inserted herself between them on the couch. 

“I’m not. How did you get caught?” She froze for a second, then looked down at her hands in her lap, her jaw going tense. He sat back a little.

“Jeez. You don’t need broadcast empathy for me to know that’s a topic I should drop.”

“I’ll get you her file, if this is going to be a more long term team up,” Max said, and she scowled.

“I don’t get to see your files, but you get to read everything that’s known about me? That’s not fair.”

“You weren’t shown my file when you agreed to this?” Max sounded bemused. “I thought you got as much information about me after I consented to partner you.”

“No. One little page about your super career, a blurb about your powers, and a postscript about how you don’t have a secret identity. Which seems dumb to me.”

“Give me a break,” he said. “I’m not exactly hard to identify.”

“ _You_ ’re not hard to identify,” she said, with a pointed look at the most famous face in the room. Jonah shrugged.

“Do you know how many tabloids I’ve had to pay off to bury my secret? I might as well just own up to it next time the story breaks.” 

“Being open about my ability lets me use it openly,” Max said. “If I can make a difference, I’m going to try to. That just means I spend a lot of time around traumatized and grieving people. It’s… the kind of day job that would probably excuse me from keeping the streets safe when I’m off the clock. But I did meet Jonah because of my day job. And if I hadn’t been open about my power, he wouldn’t have approached me with his.”

“See, that was one sentence in your bio. And it was covered by the very ambiguous phrase “disaster management.” So I really don’t know what you do.”

“Oh! I’m a trauma counselor. I work with survivors of mass casualty incidents, refugees, people that really bad things have happened to. Or people who are dying, I do a lot of hospice work. I help people sort through painful and complicated emotions so they can heal from them.”

“That’s intense,” Kinga said quietly. “And when you’re in costume you prevent mass casualty incidents.”

“I’d like to have a lot less business,” he said dryly. “But there’s no end to what the world can throw at you, and everyone gets it eventually.”

“I can’t tell if that’s bleak or hopeful.” 

“It’s not really either. It’s just… it’s chaos. And all you can do is be kind and do your best. So that’s what I try to do.” Max shrugged. “And when they showed me your file, I thought you might be able to do that too.”

“I can try,” she said, and he smiled at her.

“Thanks. I had a good feeling about you right from the start. I know you don’t share the feeling but you hate me less now than you did.”

“I never hated you, Max. I just… didn’t think highly of you at first. But you have my respect now.”

“Just your respect?”

“Well, I have no idea how much of the affection I’m feeling right now is coming from me and how much of it is coming from you, so I can’t really say.” She shrugged and leaned against him, her hand deliberately brushing his as if she wanted those waters to be as muddied as possible. “Anyways, I’ve done more intimate things with people I liked less.”

“Why?” Jonah asked. “I mean, given your ability… you pretty much never had to do anything you didn’t want to before you got collared.”

“I pretty much don’t have to do what I don’t want to do afterwards either, at least on an interpersonal scale,” Kinga said. “And don’t tell me that you superheroes are too goody-goody for the occasional hatefuck.”

“Uh… I’ve never slept with anyone I wasn’t totally into,” Max said. “And I’ve turned down people I was into because I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t influencing them too strongly.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Jonah said, and Kinga arched a brow at him. 

“Oh, come on...”

“A few people are into me, but most people are into my wealth, and unfortunately my intuition is… not good when it comes to people. Great when it comes to making things or fixing things… not good with people.” Jonah frowned at her. “I don’t think I like how easily you get information out of me.”

“I can’t help it,” she said. “Especially not right now. The more excited I get, the worse my control is. And I did jump onto a rampaging monster truck and I’ve been thinking about jumping _you_ since about five seconds after you got in the truck and made that excited sound. So until someone touches me, it’s going to be really hard not to make you do it before you’re ready to.”

“Thank you for being careful with your words,” Max said, and put one hand on her leg, fingertips brushing bare skin through the rip in her pants. The skin contact left her breathless from his feelings sizzling into her, a delicious burn of wanting. “For what it’s worth, _I_ feel like you can be a little less careful with them.”

“Don’t give her blanket permission like that,” Jonah said, and she huffed and stood up from the couch, hands on her hips as she looked at him.

“Aren’t you already used to being compromised by him? What’s the big deal if I do it?”

“I don’t make people do things,” Max said. “I just make them feel things.”

“So? If you make him feel love, it has the same end result.” Max got a nauseated look and Kinga felt a stab of guilt she wasn’t certain the provenance of. 

“I wouldn’t,” he said, “It’s repulsive. To make someone want me… I put a _lot_ of work into keeping those feelings to myself.”

“Bullshit,” Kinga said. “Maybe you try when it comes to sexual desire, but you don’t care when it comes to affection. Or you think I matter so little that you don’t need to spare me from it.” He went from pale to flushed right before her eyes and started sputtering a denial she cut off by putting her hand over his mouth. “Shh. I don’t care. So what if you make me like you. I’ve liked people for a lot less reason than you’ve given me independent of your influence.”

“You’re not helping even a little bit,” Jonah said. “You’re kind of working against yourself here.” Max’s eyes were stricken over the hand she had across his face, and she rolled her eyes and dropped her hand.

“If someone doesn’t do something I’m going to start telling you what to do,” she said. “So get with the program or get out of earshot.” Neither man moved, either to leave or to reach for her, and she looked at them for a few seconds with her brows arched expectantly. “All right then. Just for shits and giggles, anyone want to verbally consent to me taking charge? Or are you going to throw me under the bus as a rapist when you get sick of working with me?” Now they both looked nauseated.

“We wouldn’t do that to you,” Max said.

“Just… don’t tell us what to do with each other,” Jonah said. “Go ahead and tell me what you want me to do with you. But not with him.” Max nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, okay,” Kinga said, considered them both for a moment, then stepped in front of Jonah. “Take my pants off?” 

“Sure thing,” he said easily, peeling the ripped spandex down her legs. She was glad she’d opted for the cute panties this morning when his eyes widened at the sight of the lace spanning her hips. “You’re, uh… you’re definitely built like a gymnast,” he said, one hand skimming down the back of her thigh, and she smirked and cocked her hips. 

“Funny how that works.” 

“So you’re pretty flexible, huh?” 

“I hope you’re getting some bright ideas for when I say yes.”

“I might have one or two.” 

“He’s not very flexible,” Max said with a laugh. “He can’t even touch his toes.”

“Hey, that’s a long way down,” Jonah said, clearly not for the first time from his answering grin. “I’m flexible enough, you know?”

“Flexible enough for what?” Kinga asked, and Jonah’s grin widened.

“Whatever purposes you care to turn me to,” he answered, “within reason, if reason means anything to you.”

“Oh, you’re on, sunbeam,” she said with a sharp-edged smirk, settling herself astride his lap and burying her fingers in his messy hair. “I’m gonna get you all twisted up.”

“You’re already doing that.” He reached up and skimmed his fingertips along where her power-suppressing collar rested against her pale throat. “So effectively. Even despite this.” She swallowed, eyes narrowing at him.

“We might have ended up here without it. If you’d come up against me at full strength…” She pulled his hair, not hard, tugging his head back so she could mouth at his throat. “I’d have twisted you so far you’d have turned completely around,” she purred.

“I’m not the supervillain type,” Jonah said, and she pulled back to stare him in the eyes.

“You would have been. For me.”

“This conversation has severely unsettling implications and yet I’m turned on by it,” Max said. He’d shifted onto his knees on the couch next to them, and he settled a hand low on Kinga’s back. “I wonder, though. Neither of our powers require words at full strength, and they’re both about influencing people...”

“Oh, _don’t_ ,” Kinga said. Max closed his mouth but furrowed his brow at her. “It’d just be a matter of who saw the other one first. You might be able to make me feel all warm and fuzzy in the short term, but you couldn’t tell me what to do. I could change your mind.”

“I could change your heart,” he said with a shrug and a smile. “But it’s better when you change it yourself.”

“Such a do-gooder…” She leaned over to kiss him, heart in her throat at the thought of being compelled that far even as she knew she was already being compelled past where she’d have chosen to stop had she not been collared. She was so used to her will dominating everyone around her that the warmth of his affection and arousal flooding through her felt… suffocating, but in a comforting way, somehow. Even if the emotion wasn’t hers, it was soft and bright and filled all the anxious little cracks in her mind. “You’re a marshmallow,” she breathed as she pulled back.

“I know,” he said with a wry smile. “And you’re a lick of flame. I prefer being lightly toasted to set afire, for what it’s worth.” Her eyes widened, and she looked from Max to Jonah and back again.

“I make no promises as to the condition I leave you in,” she said. “Given my stated goals for Jonah, it seems like selling myself short to not give you my best effort.”

“I don’t think you really want to hurt either of us.” Max edged his fingertips under the hem of her t-shirt, and Kinga’s lashes fluttered at the feathery battering ram of his goodwill knocking her mind sideways at the touch of his skin to hers. 

“Mmm… Not really.” 

“Doesn’t it feel better to do good things than to do bad ones?” 

“Maybe it does to you. That’s not my experience.” Oh, but she felt good now, the center of attention of two men who were with her because they’d chosen to be and not only because she wanted them to be. “I’m open to being convinced,” she added, and Max beamed.

“Give me your hand.” He laced their fingers together and drew her hand up to the back of Jonah’s neck. “Watch him…” Gently, he drew their fingertips along Jonah’s hairline, and Jonah shuddered, eyes falling shut and lips parting on a sigh. “But you have to be soft or it doesn’t work. You can’t be mean to him, he just flinches if you do it wrong.”

“Oh, that’s fun.” Very lightly, Kinga dragged her nails down Jonah’s nape and giggled when he whimpered. “Silly of you to show me a weakness like this....”

“He’s— mmm. He’s got a button too,” Jonah said, making no attempt to escape her toying with the back of his neck. Her fingers went still anyways.

“Yeah? Tell me.” She wasn’t entirely sure whether the jump in excitement she felt from outside came the instant before or the instant after she said the command, whether it was what Max wanted her to say or if he was just on board with it. 

“Here, look.” Jonah caught Max’s free hand and pulled it up, pressed his lips to the pulse point of his wrist, and gently bit down. All three of them gasped aloud at the kick of arousal that spread out from Max like a shock wave.

“Oh, _interesting_ ,” Kinga breathed, and she pulled at the hand she still had tangled with Max’s to try the maneuver on his other wrist to similar effect. Her eyes lit up. “You’re both fantastic, giving each other’s vulnerabilities away so freely to me.” 

“I want to be able to trust you,” Max said, “even though I know I shouldn’t. I know what your power is, but knowing doesn’t spare me your beguilement.”

“This is hardly beguilement,” Kinga scoffed. “You’re fully aware of what I’m doing and you’re not removing yourself from my presence even though I gave you the chance to leave. You want to be here at least a little bit.”

“I want to be here rather a lot, actually.” He pulled on their linked hands to kiss the back of hers and smiled at her. “It’s… mm. I don’t know how to say this that doesn’t sound bad.”

“Say it,” she demanded, and he responded instantly.

“It’s almost nice to be compelled because I don’t have to feel guilty about how much I’m compelling you if you’re doing it to me too,” he said, and her brows shot up. “I don’t mind letting you tell me what you want me to do. Actually, I prefer being told how to please you. You’re neatly cutting out the part where I repeatedly ask what you’d like by just ordering me to do it. And, well, if I’m making you feel more affectionate than you might be otherwise, maybe you’ll be more honest about what you want from me. From us.”

“Kinky,” she laughed, trying to play off the way his confession squeezed at her heart even though she knew full well he could tell how it made her feel, partly shocked and partly furiously turned on. “Well, Max, if you want to be told what to do, you’ve certainly got yourself matched up with the correct evildoer.”

“Are you planning on doing evil with me?” 

“If you say it in a tone of invitation like that, then I’ll do whatever I can get away with with you,” she purred. “So if you have any hard limits, tell me now. Both of you.”

“I don’t want to cause anyone pain,” Max said immediately. “Even if it’s what they’re into. It’s the opposite of what I try to do, because I can feel it too.” 

“Wow, that’s so completely not shocking in the least,” Kinga said. “Lucky for you, I’m a hedonist and not a masochist. And what about you, sunbeam?”

“I don’t like being hurt,” Jonah said, and Kinga snorted.

“Well, aren’t you the softest pair of sweethearts who’ve ever donned masks. That’s all right, I can keep the claws in while I’m with you.” She shifted back on Jonah’s knees and looked from Jonah to Max and back again, a smirk tilting her lips. “Well, Jonah, it’s your furniture, am I allowed to make a mess of it, or is there a bedroom somewhere in this secret lair you can bring me to?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Jonah said.

“Carry me there, then.” She squeaked when he stood up, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and laughing into his ear as he caught an arm under her rear to support her. “Oh, you’re stronger than I thought you’d be.”

“You’ve had a skewed impression of me this entire time,” he said. “Coming, Max?”

“I sincerely hope so,” Max said, and Kinga winked at him over Jonah’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, cream puff, I’ve got plans for you too.” She kept careful track of the halls they walked between where they’d been and where they were going, peering through rare open doorways and down corridors until they came into a room with a huge bed flanked by nightstands, and then her brows arched. “The two of you are closer than you let on,” she observed.

“What do you mean?” Jonah asked as he set her on the edge of the bed, and she looked at the right nightstand with a plugged-in tablet and a Bluetooth speaker, then pointed at the left nightstand and its innocuous burden of professional journals and a couple of pill bottles.

“If that’s not Max’s side of the bed, I’ll eat what’s left of my leggings.” She looked back at them to find them both looking very suspicious.

“How did you know that?” Max asked, and she smirked.

“You look like a hard copy kind of person, and Jonah clearly isn’t. And you can’t _possibly_ be unmedicated with empathic powers and your day job.” Max started to scowl, and she sighed, “Oh, calm down, I’m not being insulting, I’m being understanding.”

“You’re being both,” Max said, and Jonah put a hand on his shoulder. 

“You’re right,” he told Kinga, “on all counts. So please don’t make us regret bringing you into our bed, because this is one of our very rare havens from the outside world.”

“I don’t want to make you regret it,” Kinga said, and sat back with her hands braced behind her, bare legs spread invitingly. “And you told me I can’t tell you what to do with each other, but I’m startlingly intrigued to find out what it is you do together. So if you’d like to get out of your super suits, with or without each other’s help, we can get this party started.” Jonah moved his hand from Max’s shoulder to the back of his neck to release the catch of his silver super suit, fingertips trailing down his spine as the fabric unfused in a familiar gesture that still made Max shiver, desire radiating from him like a shock wave and making Kinga sigh.

“Thanks, love,” Max said, tipping his head back to look up at Jonah with a smile, one hand reaching up to the nape of his neck to release his suit in return, and Jonah stooped to kiss him and then whispered something in his ear that got another shiver out of him along with a surge of contentment. 

“You _do_ love each other, don’t you?” It was a rhetorical question; she might not be able to feel Jonah’s emotions but they were written clearly across his face. He answered anyways.

“More than anything.” 

“It’s sweet. I don’t know how I didn’t realize before, working with you both.”

“We don’t try to broadcast it,” Max said, and Kinga snorted. 

“Oh, please, you’re known associates in and out of costume. You might as well just come out with it at the same time Jonah gives up paying off the tabloids. It’s not like Gizmonic City will turn on you because you’re queer, you’re both popular public figures.”

“It’s more that we don’t want to be each other’s most obvious weakness,” Max said, and Kinga’s brows arched. “Neither of us are exactly equipped for a daring one-man rescue if the other one gets kidnapped. And I’d be way more likely to be the victim of any scheme like that, since he’s crazy rich.”

“Well, now you’ve got me, and I’ll help him save you,” she said. “Come over here, both of you.” They both looked startled as they came over, and she stood up from the bed and circled behind them, not satisfied to let them undress each other when she could insert herself into the process. She tugged Jonah’s super suit off first, dragging her nails gently down his broad back just to make him gasp, then turning to repeat the move on Max and drag a squeak out of him. “We really need to get to it or my ideas are going to get even filthier than they are by now,” she said, giving Jonah a little push toward the bed as he stepped out of his suit to reveal snug briefs with a pepperoni pizza print and mismatched socks that he quickly shed.

“I’d really like to hear where they’re at now, because you are _furiously_ aroused by whatever’s in your head at the moment,” Max said, kicking his suit down his legs, “like, significantly more than you were a couple of minutes ago.” She pinched his plush butt through his plain black boxer briefs, and he went pink.

“I’m contemplating the logistics of having you both at once,” she said, pulling her t-shirt and sports bra off in one motion and forgetting them as soon as she dropped them. “It’s going to be overwhelming and that’s exactly what I’m in the mood for right now.”

“To be overwhelmed?” Jonah asked as she straddled his lap, and she nodded, grinning. “You’re a very strange person, Kinga.”

“Uh, _yeah_ ,” she said. “Always have been. You know I started manifesting my power when I was twelve? Do you have any idea what it does to a thrill-seeker to get everything she wants when she wants it?”

“Turns her into a supervillain, I expect,” Max said, and she snorted. 

“Makes her very, very strange, in many different ways. Come here, Max, I want you behind me.” He stepped in until he was pressed against her back, and she leaned into him with a happy sigh. “Can I leave it at _touch me_ or do I need to be specific with you?” Max and Jonah met each other’s eyes over her shoulder and both smiled. Max wrapped his arms around her and cupped her breasts gently, and Jonah lowered his head to catch one nipple in his mouth and flick his tongue against it. “Oh, _good_.”

“Were you serious, or were you just trying to get a rise out of us?” Max asked, mouth just behind her ear where he pressed a kiss after getting his question out.

“Oh, I’m completely serious. I had to be… mm… hypervigilant, the last time I was completely filled like that. But the two of you are sweet, soft superheroes, not dangerous villains with cruel streaks. I can trust you to treat me well without having to keep control over you both the entire time.”

“You did it with people you didn’t trust?” Max sounded appalled, and Kinga snorted.

“You want to know the last time I fucked someone I trusted?”

“Yes,” Jonah said, kissing her between her breasts.

“Ask me again in an hour and I’ll have an answer to that question.”

“ _Kinga_ …” Max gasped, and kissed her neck, almost knocking them both over with the jolt of arousal that radiated from him.

“Go figure that trust is your kink,” she breathed, trying to be mocking and falling far short of the mark. “Come on, boys… Prove me right. Show me my trust isn't in vain.”

“You want us both, you'll get us both,” Jonah said, stretching back to rummage through his drawer and toss a sleek bottle to Max. “But you're putting him in the right spot. He's so good at taking down defenses, you'll be begging before you realize.”

“I don't beg,” Kinga said. “I demand.” She shimmied out of her lacy panties which were sopping with her wetness and straddled Jonah's lap again, his knees spread beneath her wide enough to accommodate Max's hips. Max reached down to tease at her asshole with a fingertip and she wiggled her butt tauntingly. “Two fingers. Don't tease.” His slick fingers sank into her easily, and she hummed and leaned forward to kiss Jonah. 

“Please let me take my time,” Jonah said, and Kinga smirked. 

“Sunbeam, as long as that cock gets in me at some simultaneous point, go ahead and use all the fingers you think I'll need.” She yowled when he gave her one right away, “Oh, _yes_.” Over her shoulder, Max was watching with his lip between his teeth as Jonah focused on his hands between her legs, pushing a second finger in with no resistance. Inside her, they could feel each other's fleeting touch through the wall of her body, and Kinga groaned and let her head fall to Jonah's shoulder. “I lied. That's enough… That's enough fingers. Give me yourselves now.”

“Are you sure?” Jonah asked, twisting his fingers inside her. Max didn't ask when he could feel her certainty; he did as he'd been told and took her, a cautiously slow press into tight heat that left their powers as exposed nerves crossed together: his bliss pouring into her, her desire for more forcing him to stay in motion, a feedback loop that didn't trip open until Jonah lined up and slowly filled her up, reaching around her to curl his hand around Max's wrist and play with his weak spot. 

“Fuuuuuuck,” Kinga whimpered, pressing her face into Jonah’s neck in an attempt to hide how broken-open vulnerable she felt caught between them. Overwhelming was what she wanted, and overwhelming was what she got, her whole body gone weak and trembling in their encompassing embrace. “Oh, fuck, _yes_.” 

“You feel breathtakingly amazing,” Max sighed into her hair, and she didn’t know if he meant the way her body felt around his or the strange alchemy of her emotions flowing into him while her nerves were overloading with sensation. He settled his hands on her waist and moaned when he pumped his hips into her, dragging open-mouthed kisses across her shoulders. 

“Wait,” Jonah gasped, and Max went still immediately. “I’m— ohh. You’re broadcasting _everything_ , it’s too much.” 

“Suck it up, sunbeam, this is _perfect_ ,” Kinga purred, fingers threading through his hair to pull his head back so she could bite lightly at the hinge of his jaw. It was always easier for her to establish control over herself when she had someone to bring in line under her, and Jonah’s desperate whine when she braced her knees against the bed and rolled her hips was music to her ears. “Mmm, I never would have thought that between two do-gooders was _exactly_ where I’d want to be.” Max’s hands slid up from her waist to play with her breasts, nipples peaking between his fingertips, and she tossed her head back against his shoulder. “Just like that, yes…”

“See? It feels better to do good things,” Max murmured into her ear. 

“To do good people,” she retorted with a laugh that became a gasp when he rocked into her. Jonah whimpered when her nails grazed the nape of his neck, wide hands wrapping around her hips and moving her whole body to an appreciative moan. “Can you feel each other inside me?”

“Yes,” Jonah said, and held her still while he was buried deep inside her as Max thrust into her. All three of them groaned. “It’s a weird sensation,” he added breathlessly, “but I think I like it.”

“I _definitely_ like it.” Kinga struggled against his grip, hips writhing in his hands as she fought to take control without simply commanding him to let her move. He gave over immediately, hands sliding to her thighs splayed wide over his, and she leaned in to kiss him, purring, “Good boy.”

“You’re hurt,” Max said as Jonah’s fingers pressed into the bruises forming on Kinga’s thighs from her athletics with the monster truck, and Kinga snorted.

“This is hardly hurt,” she assured him. “I feel _glorious_ , don’t you worry about me.”

“You don’t need to tell me how you feel,” Max laughed, kissing her shoulder. “I can tell a lot more honestly than anything you say out loud to me, you know.” 

“The only thing I want to say out loud to you right now is _fuck me harder._ ” Her whole body rocked with his next thrust, and Jonah yelped helplessly.

“Oh, fuck, I’m too close…”

“Stop holding back, then,” she commanded, watching with a smirk as his eyes went wide when he obeyed without thinking, hips snapping up into her despite his best intentions. She moved between them with a throaty groan, grinding down onto Jonah until his satisfied moans became oversensitized whimpers.

“Don’t hurt him,” Max said, pulling back on Kinga’s hips until Jonah slid free of her. She rolled her eyes as he slid a hand between her legs to rub at her until she was too pleased to be snarky, reacting to her pleasure without her needing to communicate it to him until it was her turn to moan in satisfaction, writhing back against him as he followed her into bliss a breath behind her and bore her down onto the bed until the three of them were a sticky pile of shivery limbs and dazed bodies cuddling together.

“I’m so glad I bought those cheap-ass leggings,” Kinga muttered as she settled her chin on Jonah’s shoulder. “Jeez, if I’d have known the two of you had this in you…”

“Had _us_ in _you_ ,” Max said lazily, and Kinga snorted.

“Yeah, well, now that I do know, I’m _much_ more enthusiastic about the potentials of our partnership. I definitely do want to see both of your files, though. When or before Jonah gets to see mine.”

“I’m going to need a little more cuddle time before I even think about getting up,” Jonah said, nuzzling into her hair with a sigh. “You’re going to have to deal with that. We’re cuddlers.”

“ _No_ ,” Kinga said in a tone of pure sarcasm. “ _You’re_ cuddlers? I _never_ would have guessed that, it’s not like he’s a walking teddy bear or like you’re just soft enough to look as cozy as you feel.”

“We don’t even have to get out of bed,” Max pointed out, running one hand slowly up and down Kinga’s back. “Just hand her your tablet, honey. You can pull up everything she wants to know on that.”

“In a second,” Jonah sighed, “I’m not satisfied with this amount of snuggling yet.”

“Well, let’s do something about that,” Kinga said, and shifted until she was right on top of him, her whole diminutive frame fitting neatly on his and making room for Max to cuddle up to their sides. “This is… weird, for me,” she added quietly against Jonah’s shoulder. “I usually make people leave as soon as I’ve gotten what I wanted from them.”

“You can’t kick us out of our own bed,” Max said. “Or, you could, but you’re not leaving this building without us taking you out of it, so it wouldn’t avail you much in the long run.” 

“No, it’s… kind of nice,” she said. “Feeling affection… I’m not used to it. And I know you’re making me feel it. But I don’t mind.” She lifted her head to meet Max’s eyes, smiling wryly. “It’s a nice feeling even if it’s not mine.”

“My control was shot before, but I’ve got it back now,” Max said. “If you’re feeling anything strongly at the moment, that’s yours, not mine.”

“...oh,” Kinga said, very quietly, and turned very pink. “ _Oh_.” She dropped her face against Jonah’s shoulder again, and Jonah and Max shared an amused glance over her head. “I didn’t— are you _sure_?”

“Would you like me to show you the difference?”

“Yes,” she said immediately. “Show me.” Max settled his hand on the small of her back and a soft, shining feeling of intense fondness and satisfaction flooded into her and made her gasp before it slowly ebbed away, leaving her once more with only an emotion she had to claim as hers for real now. “Well, boys… this wasn’t what I expected today to bring, but I’m definitely not mad about it.”

“This wasn’t what _you_ expected today to bring?” Jonah asked. “I had no idea you lusted after me until you told me to kiss you.” He didn’t sound mad about it either. 

“I was pretty sure I didn’t want this to happen before it happened,” Max said. “But I’m willing to admit I was wrong, because I _really_ enjoyed what we just did.”

“Good,” Kinga said. “That means we can do it again. Hopefully frequently.”

“Define frequently,” Jonah said.

“More often than the once a week I’ve been seeing you?” she said hopefully. “Please tell me superheroes do booty calls.”

“I mean, if you _want_ us to,” Max said, and she nodded fervently. 

“We’ve got a sexy supervillain on speed dial,” Jonah said. “God help us.”


	2. a change of style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonah makes good on his promise. Edna gives Kinga the tough love she needs to get her shit together. The team solidifies once Kinga picks an alias and gets matched into their aesthetic. Pillow talk takes a serious turn as Kinga edges slowly toward the point where she can admit the things she's been feeling, but she's not quite there yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never could have made this chapter as funny as it is without the help of NightfireAdamante, especially with Kinga picking out her new name!
> 
> I had _so much fun_ writing Edna Mode, omg.

Jonah made good on his promise to get Kinga an appointment with Edna Mode much faster than she’d expected him to. She’d thought she’d have to wait months, but it was only a few weeks before Jonah and Max brought her to Edna’s domain. The diminutive tailor to the superpowered took one glance at her visitors and said, “Oh, I _see_.”

“See what?” Max asked anxiously, and Edna smirked.

“Don’t worry about it, darling. So _this_ is your pet project, hmm? Stand up straight, girl, let me look at you!” She circled Kinga with a critical look, shaking her head. “Well, the collar will be a challenge, but let it _never_ be said I’ve shrunk from a challenge. What’s your power?”

“Mind control,” Kinga said, and Edna cackled.

“Oh, _excellent_. You had a royalty theme as a villain, didn’t you? What was it?”

“Ruby Regent,” Kinga said, and Edna flapped her hands as if to disperse it from the air. 

“No, no, that won’t do any more! Not if you’re working with these two. _Are_ you a hero, now, or is my dear Doctor Sunshine giving you more credit than you’re due?”

“Doing good feels better than doing bad,” Kinga said, and Max made a quiet thrilled sound and brushed his hand against hers, his pride fluttering through her for an instant. Edna’s smirk widened.

“And you’re… associating _closely_ with them,” she said slyly. Jonah flushed and Max looked down, but Kinga just smirked right back at her, not ashamed in the least.

“I intend to associate closely with them on an indefinite basis.”

“ _Wonderful_ , darling, wonderful. Come along, I’ve got to take your measurements.” She led Kinga away from the men into a smaller room and produced a measuring tape seemingly out of thin air. “What else do you do? Or is mind control all?”

“I’m a gymnast,” Kinga said, and Edna cackled again.

“Oh, wouldn’t you just be! I’ll warn you now, if you break these sweet boys’ hearts, I’ll program your suit to self-destruct _with_ you in it.”

“I’d throw myself off a bridge before I’d deliberately hurt either of them,” Kinga said frankly, a sentiment she hadn’t expressed aloud to either Max or Jonah, although she hoped Max could feel it, the way her heart had changed in the weeks since they’d gotten so close.

“Good,” Edna said. “ _Very_ good. I designed their suits to complement each other, I think I can fit you into their aesthetic easily.”

“Metallic, you mean?”

“Mm. I saw that old costume of yours, it was _dreadful_. You’ll look stunning in bright copper.” Edna reached up and tugged a lock of Kinga’s hair, grinning. “You need a better name if you’re going to be keeping such better company!” 

“I know,” Kinga said. “I’ll probably need a haircut, too.”

“Of _course_ , darling, every great change of heart requires a dramatic makeover. Chop it all off! Immolate your past self!” Edna burst into a highly unnerving giggle as Kinga wound her long hair around one finger until she touched her temple thoughtfully.

“I can’t remember the last time I had short hair.”

“No time like the present, girl! I’m thinking something _asymmetric_ , hmm? A pixie, perhaps?” 

“I want to think about it,” Kinga said, and Edna scoffed. 

“ _I’m_ not going to cut your hair, darling. Go get it done yourself! Ask the boys, if their opinions matter to you.”

“They do…” Kinga sounded subdued, looking down at Edna taking her last measurements on her inseams. “They matter a lot.”

“Well, child, do they _know_ that?” Kinga shrugged, and Edna rolled her eyes. “What are you waiting for? You lead a dangerous life! If you care about them, _tell_ them so.”

“They’ve got each other… I’m just an interloper,” Kinga said. Edna flapped her hands at Kinga until Kinga took a startled step backwards.

“No, you foolish girl! Don’t you see the way they look at you? It was obvious as soon as you walked in that you matter to them! I wouldn’t expect Jonah to speak up, but hasn’t _Max_ said something to you about it yet?”

“N-not in so many words,” Kinga stammered, turning pink. Max hadn’t _said_ that he cared for her, but she could feel it from him, the hesitance in how he’d handled her before vanishing entirely in the weeks since they’d gotten so much closer, his fondness for her more obvious every time he touched her. “I just… I thought that I’d be… temporary to them.”

“Ridiculous,” Edna scoffed. “I’m not matching you into their aesthetic for a _lark_ , darling. If you don’t intend to commit to this team-up, why should I bother?”

“I’m— I’m not a hero,” Kinga said.

“Not without a name! We’re _working_ on it, unless you’re simply wasting my time…”

“No! I want—” The words broke apart in Kinga’s mouth as she realized the truth of them. She swallowed and started over. “I want to be part of what they have together,” she said, and Edna arched her brows. “I want them to— to want to keep me.”

“Jonah wouldn’t have brought you to me if he intended to do anything _besides_ keep you,” Edna said shortly. “Not after asking me to make you fit in with them.” She pointed back out to the room where they’d left the men waiting. “Go! Work _with_ them, darling. Figure out _who_ you are when you’re with them. Come back when you’ve got something for me to work with besides just your body!”

They were halfway back to the city before Kinga said, “I think I’d like to come home with you tonight… I need your help figuring out what I’m going to call myself from now on.”

“Of course,” Max said, his satisfaction flooding the inside of the car even without him touching her directly. “I’ve been thinking about this, honestly.” 

“So have I,” Jonah said from the driver’s seat, glancing back at Kinga in the backseat with a slight smile. “I was thinking about being deceptive with it. Make people think your powers are something entirely different.”

“How would I do that?” Kinga asked, highly interested.

“Wait until we get home and I’ll show you.” A shiver ran through Kinga at his casually pitched words, the easy inclusion of her in his concept of home leaving her skin goosebumps all over. It wasn’t long before they’d reached the Fortress of Sol-itude, which Kinga had only realized was underneath the Gizmonic City high-rise headquarters of Heston Industries as they’d left it to go to Edna’s lair that afternoon, the first time they’d neglected to blindfold her for a journey into or out of Jonah’s stronghold. She’d thought it had been a lapse in security, but no— it had been an expression of trust in her that they repeated on their way back in.

“Well, we’ve got two ways you could go with your new name,” Max said, perched in Jonah’s big leather desk chair at his computer workstation in the workshop as he watched Jonah eagerly showing off weapons to Kinga. “You could go alliterative like me, or you could go descriptive like Jonah.”

“You’re both gigantic nerds,” Kinga said, picking up a pair of shock gloves and sliding them on to find them so huge that they simply fell off, built for Jonah’s long fingers and broad palms and not her own delicate hands. “Max Masters is _such_ a dorky name, and Doctor Sunshine is just… arrogant and saccharine at the same time.” Jonah rolled his eyes and held out a hand for them, laying them on the table top before summoning the computer interface hologram.

“Put your hands on the table,” he said, and Kinga did as she was told, a pulse of light surrounding them and fading instantly. “Magic Voice, let’s reproduce this design to fit her, please.”

“ _Sure thing, Jonah. Any adjustments besides size?_ ”

“Make them copper,” Kinga said. “Bright copper.” Jonah beamed at her, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes. “So I’m going undercover with electricity powers to throw off anyone who might connect me with my past self?”

“You’ve got to admit, it’ll keep everyone guessing,” Max said. “We’ve kept out of the public eye so far thanks to your insistence on bailing on crime scenes before the police show up, but no one will immediately connect you with Ruby Regent if you’re throwing around lightning bolts in a flashy way once we inevitably go public with our team-up.”

“Especially not once I cut all my hair off,” Kinga said, and Max gasped.

“You’re going to cut your hair?”

“Are you going to miss it?” she teased, and he turned pink.

“I’m going to miss pulling it,” Jonah said shamelessly, and slid a set of small metallic discs across the table top. “Taser buttons, how’s your aim?”

“At least as good as yours if not better,” Kinga shot back, picking one up to study it. “You know, it doesn’t matter what I call myself if Edna can’t hide my collar. It’ll be pretty obvious who I am if everyone knows I’m suppressed.”

“Trust her,” Max said. “She knows what she’s doing.”

“I sure hope so,” Kinga said. “Well, sunbeam, this scheme is your idea, what’s your inevitably dorky name suggestion?”

“I was thinking maybe the Copper Charger? It covers your aesthetic and both your fake power and your real power, since a charge is a sort of command.”

“Lame,” Kinga said, rolling her eyes, but she was smiling too widely to convince either of them that she didn’t like it. “I’d sound like a power pack for a phone. Totally lame.”

“Well, you’re certainly electrifying,” Max said, and she shot him a smirk from across the room. “It’s a starting point, at least. Maybe Copper Capacitor?”

“Even lamer! I know you’re a couple of nerds, but can’t you _try_ to be cool for thirty seconds?” Jonah snorted loudly and shook his head, and Max just rolled his eyes and sat back with a smile. 

“If you want to stick with the “copper” part of the name, and you want to go alliterative…” Looking up at the high ceiling of the room, Max started rattling off potential names, ticking them off on his fingers as he went. “Copper Conductor, Copper Constable, Copper Consort—”

“ _Excuse_ me?” Kinga straightened up in complete indignation. “ _Consort_? I’m not a _consort_ , I’m the fucking _queen_.”

“Whatever you say, Your Majesty,” he said cheerfully. “I’m just brainstorming. Uh, Copper Clarion?”

“That has potential,” she said, and turned one of the taser buttons over in her fingers, frowning down at it. “Doctor Sunshine, Max Masters, and the Copper Clarion….”

“It’s got a ring to it,” Jonah said. “Doesn’t really say anything about your powers one way or another, but maybe that’s better than something deliberately misleading.”

“ _Jonah, you have a message from Edna Mode,_ ” Magic Voice said.

“Toss it up on the workstation,” Jonah responded, walking over to lean against the back of the chair Max was occupying. He scanned the brief email and his brows shot up. “Open the attachment.” The screen was suddenly filled with three sketches of different costume styles. “Oh, wow, Kinga, you’re gonna want to see these…” She’d already come up next to him, and her eyes widened at the sight of the form-fitting outfits, each with a complicated neckline that would hide the power-suppressing collar she couldn’t get rid of.

“I like the catsuit,” Max said, tapping the leftmost design, and Kinga snorted.

“You would.”

“So do I,” Jonah said.

“Gosh, I wonder why you both like that one,” she said sarcastically. “Maybe I should avoid it. I don’t want you to get distracted by my figure, if you think I’m your _consort_ …”

“It’s not like I suggested calling you the Copper Concubine,” Max said, and she thwacked him in the back of the head. “Yeowch!”

“You deserved that,” she said.

“Yeah, probably,” he agreed.

“Please don’t beat up my boyfriend,” Jonah said, wrapping a hand around Kinga’s wrist to prevent her from threatening Max again. “Which one do _you_ like?”

“...I like the catsuit too,” Kinga admitted.

“Ha! Told you so,” Max chirped, and she rolled her eyes and kissed the back of his head where she’d struck him.

“Yeah, yeah, maybe you’re not _hopelessly_ dorky.”

“What do you think about the name thing?” Jonah asked. “If we can get that to her, she can work on the details, this is just the most basic outline.”

“Copper Clarion’s not bad,” Kinga said. “It’s a call to action, right? Seems apt. Doesn’t go with the electricity thing, but I’m sure willing to play with all those spark plug toys to throw people off anyways.” She leaned into Jonah, lips pursed while she thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go with that. Let her know I’ll be calling myself the Copper Clarion.”

A week later, they went back to Edna’s lair to pick up Kinga’s finished super suit, which fit like a dream the moment she put it on and engaged the fastening that sealed the back of it from the bottom of her spine to her hairline, just covering the suppressing collar but hiding it beautifully. Edna went over the features of the suit in a rant that left Kinga wanting to applaud at the end: the same pliable but nearly indestructible fabric she’d invented for Elastigirl’s super suit to allow for maximum range of motion for Kinga’s not-supernaturally-bendy body; a built-in tracker keyed to the same frequency as the trackers in Jonah and Max’s suits, which could be set to echolocate if they lacked access to a screen to use; inductive wiring running through the fabric that built up enough voltage from her motion to super-charge the shock gloves that Edna had worked into the design once Jonah sent them over; and, Kinga’s favorite part of it, a slim copper coronet to hold back her hair over her left eye in the asymmetrical cut that was close-clipped everywhere except that sideswept bang. 

“ _Marvelous_ , darling,” Edna had cheered when Kinga discharged her shock gloves on the tester’s dummy set up for her to flex her ersatz powers for the first time. “Oh, you’re going to take them _all_ by surprise. Here, come here, let me get a picture of you…” She’d demanded that Jonah and Max come suited up, and she imperiously directed the three of them to pose for her once she’d satisfied herself with Kinga as the sole subject of her camera. “No, no, less romantic and more _heroic_ , this is for my archives, not for your _scrapbook_!”

“It’s going in my scrapbook too,” Max said cheerfully, standing up straight from where he’d been leaning into Jonah’s side. “Can’t you take one lovey-dovey one? For me?”

“Manipulative boy,” Edna chided him with a grin. “At the end, then! I get so few chances to suit up a team unless they’re all matched, you’re _unique_ in so many ways, darlings.” 

“Thank you for everything, Edna,” Kinga said as they were leaving, bending to press the designer’s hands between her gloved ones. It had taken her less than ten minutes to master the shock gloves, between Jonah’s intuitive design and Kinga’s natural aptitude for destruction, but Edna still looked a little nervous. “I owe you so much.”

“No, child, this was my repayment of a debt to _Jonah_ , _you_ don’t owe me a thing except a public claim on the design once you make your debut! Oh, I can’t _wait_ for you to get out in the field and really test the limits of this suit.”

“Let’s hope that’s not too soon,” Jonah said dryly. 

“Speak for yourself, sunbeam,” Kinga said. “I’m _itching_ to zap the next evildoer we cross paths with.”

“Maybe we should have called you Copper Chaos,” Max said, and Kinga grinned at him.

“Too late now, cream puff. I’ve got a name and it’s going to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies.”

“Have _fun_ , darlings,” Edna said, and closed the door behind them.

They made it back to the Fortress of Sol-itude without Kinga setting a fire in Jonah’s car testing her sparks between her own fingers, and Jonah stripped the gloves off her hands before pulling her over to the couch and into his arms.

“You look _so_ good,” he sighed, and Kinga grinned.

“Oh, yeah? I’m sure you had _nothing_ to do with the accentuating features of this suit, hmm?” She traced two fingertips over the mirrored stylized Cs that cupped the curves of her breasts, and his gaze dropped and held steady on the slight rise and fall of her breath.

“Edna doesn’t take requests,” Max laughed, sitting on Kinga’s other side and settling a hand on her knee just above where her boots ended. “But let’s be real, she was always going to dress you to impress everyone who catches sight of you. You’re a knockout.”

“Not yet I’m not,” Kinga said with a sharp-edged grin. “But I will be with all the lovely toys Jonah’s set me up with.” She shifted on the couch, leaning back against Jonah’s lap and tossing her legs over Max’s lap, shamelessly occupying them both. 

“I’ve got to keep you safe somehow,” Jonah said. “Equipping you to do it yourself seemed like the best idea. You’re not the type to require a man to save you.”

“Never have been,” Kinga agreed, hooking a finger into Jonah’s collar to pull him down for a kiss. She wound her fingers through his dark hair and gave it a gentle tug. “You’re breaking the aesthetic, Jonah… Max is all silver, I'm all copper, and then there's you…” 

“I'm _not_ bleaching my hair, I would look like a complete douche lord,” Jonah said, completely appalled. Max burst into giggles and Jonah aimed a hurt look at him.

“No, you’re right, you’d look _awful_ blond,” Max said, trying to tame his laughter without much success. Jonah scowled harder. “I’m sorry, love, but it’s _hilarious_ to consider.”

“Anyways, I’m not _breaking_ the aesthetic, I’m the _origin_ of the aesthetic, since I was the first one Edna outfitted of the three of us,” Jonah said. “I wanted a yellow super suit, but she convinced me to go for gold instead.”

“I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with yellow,” Kinga said, and Jonah shrugged.

“What, don’t you have a favorite color? Wasn’t your old suit purple?”

“Purple and black,” Max said. “Mostly black, though.”

“Well, yeah, _villain_ ,” Kinga said. 

“But your name was Ruby Regent… why not red?” Jonah asked.

“Red isn’t my favorite color. And purple looked better on me anyways. Not as good as the copper looks, but better than jewel-toned red. And purple is associated with royalty, so it still fit the theme.” Kinga looked over at Max. “Is silver your favorite color?”

“No, my favorite color is green,” he answered. “Like a bright spring green. But it doesn’t look good on me. I tried a green costume when I got started and I looked like a fat frog, I couldn’t even take myself seriously. I look a lot better in the silver.”

“You look great in the silver,” Kinga assured him, one finger running down the back of his neck to find the release on his suit. “But you look even better out of it.”

“Go ahead,” he said with a laugh, tipping his head forward. “But if we’re losing the suits, I’d like to suggest we relocate.” 

“If you didn’t say it, I was going to,” she said. “Come on, boys… I know you appreciate me in the suit but I’d like you to appreciate me as I take it off.”

In the little over a month since they’d taken Kinga to their bed the first time, Jonah and Max had very quickly become accustomed to having her between them, letting her boss them around for her pleasure because it pleased them too. One night she’d sat at the head of the bed and quietly watched them to satisfy her curiosity about how they were with each other, her hand between her thighs as she lazily teased herself to the sound of Max’s aroused giggles and Jonah’s sweet, soulful sighs as they brought each other to a slow, showy climax, then surrounded her in a sleepy, sated snuggle that lasted much later than their trysts usually went. She had yet to spend an entire night with them, but when she left it was reluctantly, wishing despite herself that they’d ask her to stay without ever thinking about compelling them to let her do it.

Today was special, though. Kinga made a show of removing her super suit after they’d shed theirs and sat on the edge of the bed to play her adoring audience, baring her shoulders one at a time, slowly drawing the fabric down to reveal her breasts to an appreciative gasp from both of them, turning to shimmy her butt as she pulled the suit down her toned legs and kicked it off.

“You are _so_ beautiful,” Jonah sighed, and she shot him a flirty smirk over one shoulder.

“Yeah? How beautiful?” she teased.

“You’re by far the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen naked if you’re not outright the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen at all,” he said, and she giggled and turned around.

“Pretty words, sunbeam. I don’t think you’ve seen that many women naked, though.”

“I’ve definitely seen more women naked than he has,” Max said dryly, “and you’re definitely the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in person.”

“Oh, so I’m hot but I’m not supermodel hot?”

“You are so much hotter than any of those twigs,” Jonah said. “Your body is a weapon and you’re dangerously sexy.”

“Now that’s a compliment I won’t argue with,” she laughed, stalking over to the bed to stand between them. “I like it when you think I’m dangerous.”

“You’ve always been dangerous,” Max said. “You’ve never not been dangerous at any point we’ve known you. One way or another, you could fuck us both up if you wanted to, collar or no collar.” She tucked her chin, one hand coming up to span the device encircling her throat, lips pressed together as she looked at him, and he offered her an apologetic smile. “But the fact that you _can_ hurt us and you _don’t_ is also intensely sexy to me.”

“Trust kink,” Kinga said mock-scornfully, shaking her head. “The sweetest, softest cream puff who’s ever existed.” She tugged gently on his curls to make him tilt his face up and leaned in to kiss him, already forgiving him for bringing the collar up, knowing that he was probably influencing her to let it go but not caring enough to try to cling to her anger when she could succumb to affection instead.

“Trust _is_ sexy, though,” Jonah said, coming to Max’s defense, and Kinga smirked at him. “And trusting you is thrilling in the way skydiving is thrilling. It _could_ go catastrophically wrong and leave me wrecked or dead, but you’re the prettiest parachute.”

“Sweet talker,” Kinga purred, moving to kiss him next. “I’ve got another use in mind for that clever mouth of yours, though.”

It was decadent to let them cover her with kisses, to splay herself out on the bed and be caressed and fondled and teased by two sets of strong, trustworthy hands, to use her own much less trustworthy hands to stroke and tease them both at once as they flanked her. Max went high and Jonah went low, both of them kissing her deeply and leaving her body quivering between them.

“So beautiful,” Max murmured in her ear as she writhed from Jonah’s focused attention between her thighs, one hand gently kneading her breast and feeling her heart race beneath it. “The most beautiful, and the most precious.” He meant it, she could tell, his care for her rushing through her like a snowmelt river, breaking its banks and flooding into every part of her. “Let yourself go, Kinga.” His orders weren’t compulsory like hers, but she obeyed anyways, crying out and clutching at Jonah’s hair as she went over the edge between them. Jonah shifted back up the bed and kissed Max, who whimpered quietly. “Tasting her on your mouth is a mind fuck,” he said.

“Only because you’re used to tasting _yourself_ there,” Jonah teased, and Kinga hummed in satisfaction as she lifted her head.

“I’d like to see that,” she said, and the men shared a glance and a smile.

“Tell us what you want us to do with each other, then,” Max said.

“You’ll _let_ me?”

“I’m intrigued to know what you think of us when you think of us apart from you,” Jonah said, and Kinga arched a brow at him.

“I think you act like you’re practically married,” she said with a laugh, “but if you’re waiting for orders… Jonah, suck Max off, and don’t tease him too much because once he finishes I want you to fuck me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jonah said cheerfully, rearranging his lanky limbs on the bed to lie between Max’s legs and lower his head to his task. Max gasped, desire burning through him and spreading out to Jonah and Kinga like a wildfire, leaving all three of them achingly aroused. Kinga reached down to play with Jonah’s hair while he blew Max, teasing that spot on the back of Jonah’s neck until he whimpered and pulled her fingers away from it.

“Please,” Max breathed, tangling his fingers with Kinga’s in Jonah’s messy hair. “Please, love, don’t stop…” Jonah couldn’t have stopped if he wanted to, thoroughly under Kinga’s compulsion, but he never wanted to stop pleasing Max anyways, far too much in love with him to ever withhold bliss that was in his power to bestow. When Max’s climax hit, it spread like a shock wave, sending fireworks down Kinga and Jonah’s spines as Max shuddered and went boneless between them. Jonah spent a couple of moments sucking Max clean before moving to kiss him again. “Oh, tasting us _both_ on your mouth is even harder to deal with,” Max whimpered.

“Come here, sunbeam.” Kinga pushed Jonah onto his back and bent to kiss him as she climbed on top of him, humming with interest to find it was true: Jonah’s lips tasted like Kinga’s pleasure while Max’s flavor was strong in his mouth, a strange and tangy combination that made her feel weirdly warm and fuzzy on the inside. “Ready for me?” she teased him with words as she teased him more directly, guiding his cock between her legs and rubbing the tip against her cunt to make them both squirm with anticipation.

“Yes!” 

“Take me, then.” Jonah wrapped his huge hands around her hips and pulled her down onto him, making her yowl with pleasure as he filled her up. “Oh, _Jonah_ …” He didn’t give her a chance to get used to him, guiding her hips up and down with his firm hold on her, which was exactly what she wanted, riding that line between the perfect amount of sensation and _too much_ , always willing to err on the side where pleasure swirled with pain.

“You’re almost too much,” Jonah gasped, unknowingly echoing her own thoughts in a way that Kinga hadn’t experienced since she’d been collared. It used to happen a lot when she was controlling minds without restriction, her own words coming out of the mouths of others, but in this moment it shook her, wondering in the split second before she came whether her power was still at its height within the confines of her own body. It was a nearly moot point, though; the only people she’d allow inside her were already willing to let her influence them. Still, she thought, _come with me_ , and Jonah obeyed her unspoken command as she peaked and brought him along for the ride.

Getting used to the amount of post-coital cuddling Jonah and Max preferred had been a dubious prospect at first, but it hadn’t taken long for Kinga to discover that she loved being snuggled between them. She rested back against Jonah’s chest and Max cuddled up to use her as a pillow, and the three of them settled in, fingertips idly stroking skin and occasional kisses dropped on whatever body part was in proximity. After a few minutes of gentle affection without the need for words, Kinga decided to venture a question she’d had lurking in the back of her mind since she’d realized that she was frightened of the feelings building inside her for the superheroes who had shown her that doing good felt good.

“What's the scariest thing you've ever done?” she asked quietly. Max sighed and didn’t lift his head from where it was pillowed on her breasts, but she didn’t need to see his expression for his feelings to be understood, a queasy nostalgic terror seeping into her.

“Hostage negotiation from 60 floors away. I couldn't get close enough to influence the kidnappers.”

“Did it go okay?”

“I _am_ trained in crisis defusing techniques, even if I cheat most of the time with my power. No one died that day. But a couple of people did get hurt.”

“You saved everyone’s life that day,” Jonah said, carding his fingers through Max’s hair gently. “You proved that you’re not dependent on your power to do good in the world.”

“It was still terrifying,” Max said. “Having to rely on nothing but words when lives were on the line.”

“But you’re a good counselor,” Kinga said. “Or everyone I’ve talked to about you thinks you’re very good at it, at least. That’s not _all_ your power, is it? You have to be teaching people things that help them when you’re not around them.”

“I’m fully trained to do my job without my powers factoring into it. I just almost never have them not factor into it.” Max shrugged. “Maybe I’m lazy for using my powers so often. But I feel like it would be wasting them not to use them when they’ll help.”

“I think you’re justified,” Jonah said, and Max tipped his head back to look up at him with a smile.

“What about you, sunbeam? What scared you to do?” Kinga nudged him.

“There was a lab accident when I was in grad school,” Jonah said. “An explosion. I hit my head, but I couldn’t just leave, there were people still in there. I probably should have been a lot more scared than I was, but I had a pretty bad concussion. I wasn’t thinking about myself, just about the people I could save. I managed to pull three people out of the building before the first responders showed up.”

“You’ve got heroic instincts,” she said, and he huffed a laugh.

“Well, that _was_ the day that inspired me to become more than just an inventor. After my brain stopped ringing, anyways. I’d had my powers for a few years by then but I hadn’t really done anything with them, light projection wasn’t the most useful talent in the world until I really worked on developing the detail and range I could affect. But I didn’t need powers at all to do that particular act of heroism. It made me feel like… like I could be something so much more than I already was. It wasn’t too long after that when I met Max.”

“When was that?”

“Eight years ago?” Jonah pitched it like a question, and Max nodded.

“Yeah. It was eight years, we met when I was thirty.”

“You’re awfully young to have grey hair,” Kinga said, carding her fingers through Max’s curls.

“It’s hereditary. My dad was totally white-haired before he was forty. For my family, I’m actually pretty old to still have any color in my hair at all.” Max hummed quietly while Kinga dragged her nails against his scalp, and then asked, “You got both our answers… what’s the scariest thing _you’ve_ ever done?”

_Falling in love with a pair of superheroes_ , she thought. _Turning my back on everything I thought I wanted for myself because I found something I want more, now._ “The scariest moment of my life was when I came to after being taken into custody,” she said instead, not answering the direct question but coming close enough that they wouldn’t challenge her. “Waking up with this collar around my throat in solitary confinement… I didn’t see a human face for three days after that. My food was brought by a robot, I was remotely monitored and allowed access to the showers when no one else was there… The first person I saw was my court-appointed lawyer, and she told me that there was exactly one way I could get out of staying in that cell for the rest of my life.”

“The Super Rehabilitation Program,” Max said, not a question. 

“Yeah.”

“So you weren’t actually interested in being rehabilitated, you were just interested in being freed,” Jonah said, and Kinga shrugged.

“I was interested to see what it would entail. When I said I’d do it, she came back a couple days later and gave me Max’s superhero info sheet. Said he was the only person who’d risk taking me on. I wasn’t about to say no. So I signed a bunch of paperwork promising not to break the law, promising I’d be on my best behavior, promising to help Max do good things. They set me up with my crappy little apartment and a stipend because they thought I was still too dangerous for normal employment, and…” She shrugged again. “Then I met Max. And I thought he was totally lame at first.”

“I know you did,” Max said dryly. “What was your name suggestion? ‘The Kicked Puppy’?”

“Jonah, does he or does he not have the most pathetic sad puppy eyes you’ve ever seen in your life?”

“I wouldn’t call them pathetic… I’d call them _effective_ ,” Jonah said, squeezing Max’s shoulder gently. 

“Thank you, I think, maybe,” Max said. “That does sound terrifying, though. Waking up imprisoned and hobbled like that from a power you’ve relied on your whole life. I can’t imagine how I’d react if I woke up one day and I couldn’t sense how people feel. It’d be like losing a limb.”

“That’s kind of how it feels to be collared,” Kinga said. “Like I’ve lost a part of myself. Even if I can still affect people with my words… I spent fourteen years getting everything I wanted, when I wanted, without even needing to say out loud what it was I wanted. More than half my life, doing nothing but what I pleased. I hate this fucking collar. If they hadn’t warned me that it’d electrocute me if I tried to open it, I’d have given it a go already.”

“I really wouldn’t advise that,” Jonah said. “The voltage it’d deliver would definitely knock you unconscious for a few hours. There’s even been a case of a villain dying from trying to take it off, but the design was tweaked after that happened to prevent it from happening again.” Kinga turned to give him a narrow-eyed stare, and he shrugged. “I was on the design team. I’d pitched for a lower voltage to start with, but the first people to be collared were _not_ casualty-free rehabilitation candidates. They had body counts. Big ones, for some of them. The kind of powers that were still dangerous even reduced as far as we could knock them down.”

“That was one of the perks of my power,” Kinga said. “I could clear a building before blowing it up. And I always did. I just wanted to cause mayhem, I never wanted to murder anyone.” She sighed and shifted in Jonah’s arms, resting her head against his collarbone. “And that’s the only reason I’m here with you now. Because I was that conscientious even in my chaos.”

“Well, we’re both very glad that you _are_ here with us,” Max said, lacing his fingers through hers and squeezing gently. She smiled and closed her eyes, warmed by their care for her, and tried not to think ahead to when she’d have to leave the comfort of their bed and their embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus content POV snippet from my WIP Wednesday word game on Pillowfort:
> 
> "Come along, I've got to take your measurements," Edna said, leading Kinga out of the room and leaving Jonah and Max to admire her immaculately tasteful reception room for a moment before Max looked up at Jonah.
> 
> "You said she owes you a favor..." 
> 
> "Don't ask," Jonah said immediately. "She's sworn me to secrecy."
> 
> "Oh, come _on_! Aren't we past the point of having secrets between us?"
> 
> "Max, honey, you know I love you, but I am _not_ crossing her. She's _terrifying_."
> 
> "Can you give me a hint?" Jonah shook his head. "How about a time frame? When did this happen?"
> 
> "My lips are sealed." Max pouted, hurt radiating out of him, and Jonah sighed and pulled him into his arms. "I'm not keeping it from you because of _you_ , I'm keeping it from you because of _her_. I'll just say that it was a business related thing, okay? It was about Heston Industries, not about me."
> 
> "As if you're separate from it," Max sighed, but he reined his feelings in as he leaned into Jonah. "Fine, fine, I'll drop it. Whatever it was must have been big to get her to agree to this, but I guess I don't _need_ to know whatever it was."
> 
> "Thank you." Jonah curled a hand around the back of Max's neck and laughed a little. "Remember the last time we were here together?"
> 
> "Like I could forget being menaced by someone even shorter than I am?" Max said dryly. "You're right, though, she _is_ terrifying."
> 
> "I _know_. It's a good thing she's a designer for superheroes, she could easily have been a supervillain in her own right." They both looked at the door Edna had brought Kinga through, and Jonah added, "For some reason, I have a feeling that they're going to hit it off with each other." Max huffed a laugh and didn't disagree.


	3. a change of heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max has no secret identity... and pretty soon neither does Jonah. Unfortunately, Max was on the money with his fears about what would happen after that. The newly minted Copper Clarion isn't about to sit around and wait for someone else to save her boyfriend when Max is kidnapped for ransom, but Kinga's going to need Jonah to do her one enormous favor before she can pull off a rescue without starting a body count that'll get her chucked back in prison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this fic absolutely possessed me over the past week, and I'm happy to have finished it so quickly! If only every AU was this easy to write. Thanks again to NightfireAdamante for helping me make my fics as good as I can get them!

Once Kinga got her new suit, the frequency of her activity with Jonah and Max sharply increased, going from about once a week to two or three times a week. It wasn’t always a super-crisis that brought them out, but more often than not the encounters ended with the three of them walking away from a quiescent villain tamed by Kinga’s explicit orders to stay and be good for the police before they bailed from the scene of the crime. She was surprised by _how_ good it felt to do good; she hadn’t been entirely convinced by Max’s words, but the proof was in the doing, and every time she did a good thing, she was amply rewarded both intrinsically and extrinsically. It didn’t hurt that the aftermath of suiting up always involved helping each other back out of their super suits, either to tend each other’s wounds or to tend to each other more intimately than that.

Since Kinga had taken on her new mantle and upgraded their dynamic duo to a trio, Jonah and Max had been less vigilant about maintaining a polite distance in public, to their near-immediate detriment: a paparazzi caught a photo of Doctor Sunshine holding Max Masters intimately close after a villain had struck Max in the head before the Copper Clarion knocked the evildoer out, and waved the picture in Jonah’s face at a charity event that required the presence of the head of Heston Industries, leaving Jonah shrugging helplessly, unable to deny that he was the same man who’d been comforting the superhero with no secret identity. All three of them counted themselves lucky that the paparazzi hadn’t seen the Copper Clarion kissing the stunned Max before she and Doctor Sunshine had more-or-less carried Max away from the scene a few minutes after that. When Jonah owned up to his superhero identity at a press conference, no one had any questions about the identity of the third member of their recently expanded team after they got confirmation that Jonah and Max were romantically involved.

The upshot of them being unceremoniously shoved out of the closet in both personal and public terms was that Jonah could finally bring Max to all the fancy events he’d been going to alone to keep up the facade of the bachelor genius philanthropist he’d been playing at, and the newspapers and magazines ate it up with a spoon and came back for second helpings. They got asked about the Copper Clarion occasionally, but it was easy enough to divert the conversations back to their long-term duoship and the length of time they’d been hiding their love underneath their heroism. Max had no problem with finally getting a chance to tell the world how great he thought Jonah was, and Jonah was less verbally effusive but no less obviously smitten.

It also didn’t take long at all for Max’s fears about their relationship made public to come home to roost, though.

“What’s wrong, sunbeam?” Kinga asked when she opened the door of her apartment to find an anxious-looking Jonah on the other side of it. He didn’t say anything, just held out his phone to her. She took it, scanned the text on the screen, and went pale. “Oh, no.”

“I _knew_ it was a bad idea to own up to our relationship,” Jonah said. “I _knew_ bad things would happen to him. I should have just kept paying off the papers to bury it. I should have given that jackass what he wanted from me to hide it.”

“Well, take a deep breath,” she said, and he did so, scowling about doing it without his conscious intent. “Are you here to pick me up?”

“Obviously.” She thrust his phone back at him and he clutched it tightly while she ducked back inside to grab the tote she kept by the door with her super suit and mask inside. “I don’t know what to do…”

“I have a few ideas,” she said soothingly, putting a hand low on his back as she lead him back out to his car. He’d opted for one of the sporty ones to come get her, which she always appreciated on the rare event he came to collect her instead of Max. “Can I drive?”

“ _Absolutely_ not.”

“Buzzkill.” He gave her an unamused look, and she cracked a smile. “Come on, Jonah, I know I can’t change your mood like he can, all I can do is try to make you laugh.”

“Excuse me for not being able to laugh when the love of my life is being held for ransom.” She didn’t try again, just settled her hand on his knee as they sped through the streets of Gizmonic City, lending what little reassurance she could in the heavy silence between them until they reached his high-rise headquarters and the secret lair buried beneath it. 

“So, what do we know?” Kinga asked, perching herself on the edge of his desk as he sat at the workstation and brought up the ransom note on the big screen.

“Magic Voice is trying to backtrace the origin of this message, but they ran it through a shitload of VPNs all over the world so it’s slow going.”

“When’d you get it?”

“About… two hours ago? I, uh… I might have spent a little time having a panic attack before I came to get you,” Jonah admitted, not meeting her eyes. “Maybe more than a little time.”

“Oh, sunbeam…” Kinga touched his cheek gently before focusing her attention on the screen. “ _Could_ you pay the ransom?”

“It’d set a really bad precedent. If I fold this time, Max is just going to become the city’s most high-profile frequent kidnapping victim.” 

“How could anyone kidnap him anyways? Shouldn’t his empathic projection be able to disable anyone who tried to attack him?”

“Theoretically,” Jonah said. “I’ve seen him induce a panic attack once, but it’s hard to tell how someone will react to overwhelming fear. It could have backfired.”

“What if you contact them? That should be an easier way to track them than trying to trace this message backwards, shouldn’t it? Just follow where your response goes. Embed a GPS ping that goes off when it’s opened.”

“...that’s not a bad idea,” Jonah said, leaning forward and starting to type, not looking down at his hands as he went. “Magic Voice, think you’d program that faster than I would?”

“ _I’ve completed the task already,_ ” Magic Voice said.

“Thattagirl. You’re my favorite thing I’ve ever programmed, you know that?”

“ _You don’t need to sweet talk me, Jonah, but thank you._ ” Kinga snorted a laugh.

“Hey, Magic Voice?”

“ _Yes, Kinga?_ ”

“Doesn’t Max have a tracking device in his watch? What’s his last known location?”

“ _Max’s watch is currently registering location at his downtown office. Internal cameras in that building were disabled at 12:29 p.m. Last screenshots before downtime displayed on screen._ ” Jonah and Kinga looked up to find four still images: the hallway outside of Max’s office, empty; the reception area of Max’s office, empty even of his secretary; the kitchenette of Max’s office, empty; and the interior of Max’s office, complete with one sleepy-eyed superhero at his desk sipping coffee from a reusable travel mug with several stickers on it. Jonah sighed.

“We shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night,” he said regretfully. “We were _really_ into the show we were binging and we were so close to the end of the season that we just kept going until two in the morning.”

“So his reflexes are dulled from sleeplessness,” Kinga said. “Well, whoever did this knew what they were doing if they killed the cameras and took his watch off him. Do you have a particular nemesis? Someone who’d come after you through him?”

“Not really,” Jonah said. “Hey, Magic Voice, you’ve got access to street cameras…”

“ _Technically no,_ ” Magic Voice said. “ _That access was revoked by order of city council._ ”

“That didn’t actually stop you, though.”

“ _Correct. Tapping into central processing and accessing feeds now._ ”

“Jonah, you lawbreaker,” Kinga said admiringly.

“ _Jonah isn’t breaking the law, I am_ ,” Magic Voice said, a note of pride in her tone.

“Magic Voice, you lawbreaker!”

“ _Saving Max’s life is more important than legislative bullshit,_ ” Magic Voice said. Kinga’s eyes widened.

“Jeez, Jonah, you programmed a sass queen.”

“Well, she is pretty much the most advanced artificial intelligence on the planet,” Jonah said. “She’s got more personality than some humans I know.”

“She’s amazing.”

“ _Thank you, Kinga, I think you’re pretty amazing too._ ” Kinga beamed. “ _This search will take about thirty minutes to run, Jonah. You haven’t eaten since this morning. Please get some food._ ”

“Yes, Mom,” Jonah said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know how you expect me to think about food at a time like this…”

“As if you don’t regularly forget about food?” Kinga asked, going into the mini fridge in one corner of the workshop and pitching what was basically a fancy Lunchable for adults at him. He caught it with one hand and made a face at her. “You won’t be any good to Max if you’re all foggy from hunger, you know.”

“He’s usually the one who reminds me to eat,” Jonah said sadly. Kinga snagged a snack for herself and came back to sit on the desk again, bracing her feet around Jonah’s legs on his chair as she peeled it open.

“Then it’s a good thing Magic Voice and I are here to prod you into it while we help you get him back,” she said archly. “If you can’t function like a normal person without him.” 

“I _can_ function without him,” he said, and took a bite out of a piece of cheese before adding, “I just don’t _prefer_ to function without him.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t _prefer_ to function with my power bound, but we all have to do things we don’t prefer to do sometimes, sunbeam.” She watched him pick at his food halfheartedly and sighed. “Come on, Jonah, work with me here. Do we need to order something in to tempt your appetite?”

“Nothing’s going to tempt my appetite while I’m this worried,” he said peevishly, but stuffed a piece of salami in his mouth when she glared at him.

“We’ll go to that Korean place you both like once we get him back,” she promised. “We’re _going_ to get him back. I promise. But if you need me to order you to eat, I’ll do it.” He just blinked at her, and she rolled her eyes and snorted. “Jonah, eat your damn food or I’ll force-feed you.”

“That’s not cool,” he complained even as he stuck a cracker in his mouth. “You don’t have to threaten me.”

“Uh, _hello_ , I was a supervillain until like three months ago? Threats are how I motivate when I can’t just make people do what I want them to.” She watched him eat until he came to the end of his snack pack, then asked the question she’d been holding in the back of her mind this entire time: “You know how to deactivate my collar, don’t you?”

“Yeah, of course I do, I helped design them,” he mumbled around his last cracker sandwich. 

“Can you take it off? _Please_.” It _hurt_ to hold back her power when she’d have used it without thinking with anyone else, but Jonah wouldn’t forgive her if she compelled him to do _this_ for her, no matter how badly she needed him to agree to it. She looked down at him with a plea in her eyes, and he made a miserable little sound and closed his.

“You know I can't.”

“You _can_. You can take it off me, and I will walk into wherever they’re holding him and walk back out with Max and no casualties. If I walk in there like this, I can't promise that. So make your choice, sunbeam. Either give me a better weapon than these spark plug toys and accept that I’m going to use it, or give me back my powers so I can rescue him without ruthlessly cutting down everyone between me and him for daring to take him at all. One way or another, I’m going after him.”

“...bring him home to me,” Jonah said softly, getting up and reaching for a tool on his work bench. Kinga hopped off the desk and up onto the work table and tilted her head forward to bare the lock of the collar for his attention.

“I'll bring him home to _us_ ,” she said, and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head before setting his big hands to the task of freeing her from any restriction that might prevent her from doing exactly that. It took a startlingly short amount of time before the collar unclicked and released its snug hold on her throat, and Jonah carefully removed it and set it down on the table next to her, looking down at it with a frown. 

“Please don’t make me regret doing that.” 

“I’m on your side, Sunshine. I thought you trusted me by now.” She rolled her neck until it popped and sighed.

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” he said, and she smirked.

“I told you how to make me loyal to you. To the both of you. And you did. Don’t worry. The last thing on my mind is betraying you.” 

“ _Jonah, I have results from two of our inquiries, both leading to the same place. Address on screen now._ ” They both came back over to the workstation hastily, looking at the street-view map and the building schematics Magic Voice had retrieved. There was a very sketchy-looking black windowless van parked in the alley behind the building, caught by a camera at an ATM across the street. “ _I tracked this vehicle from Max’s office to this building between 12:48pm and 1:13pm. It hasn’t moved for the past five hours._ ”

“Good job, Magic Voice,” Jonah said. “Any wireless access inside the building?”

“ _Unfortunately not. All systems are hard-wired and I can’t tap into any interior cameras. We’re going to have to go in blind._ ”

“That’s not a problem now,” Kinga said, one hand against her bare throat and a smirk on her lips. “Wouldn’t be the first building full of goons I’ve taken down blind.”

“Aren’t goons what bad guys have?” Jonah asked, and Kinga flapped her hands in a very Edna-like dismissal.

“Good guys can have goons too. It’s a catchall term for low level grunts under the direction of a higher power.”

“A higher power,” Jonah echoed skeptically. “I suppose you think _you’re_ a higher power.”

“Sunbeam, I’d like to see anyone try to stop me now.” She reached for his hand and laced her fingers through his, looking up at him with a furrow in her brow. “Will you let me check my power on you before I go out to use it?”

“...yes,” he said very quietly, and she smiled up at him and hopped off the table, pulling his hand until they were standing in the clear center of his workshop. 

Kinga didn’t need to speak to invoke her power when she was unbridled, and she’d missed the feeling of imposing her desires with nothing more than her focused intentions, the sensation of other people’s minds as she wound her will into them like fingers through their hair to turn them where she wanted them to go. Something was different, now, and she wasn’t sure if it was because her power had been warped by exposure to Max’s power or simply because this was Jonah and she loved him, and she’d never inflicted her complete control over someone she’d genuinely cared for the way she cared for him and Max now. Whatever the cause, she touched Jonah’s mind gently, an easy request that he bowed to immediately, spinning her once before pulling her into his arms and beginning to move.

“Magic Voice, give us a tango,” Kinga said, and music filled the room. Jonah’s eyes were wide as he looked down at her.

“I don’t know how to tango,” he said, tangoing flawlessly, and she smiled.

“Just trust me, sunbeam, I won’t steer you wrong.” He dipped her back and she grazed her fingertips across the nape of his neck just to make him tremble. “Don’t you and Max dance?”

“Not like this…”

“That’s too bad. Perhaps I’ll have to encourage you to take a spin together. He seems like the type to enjoy it. Hopelessly romantic, you know.” 

“We’re more the type to waltz than to tango.” Jonah sighed, adding, “He does, though. Love to dance, I mean. And he’s more graceful than I am on the dance floor.”

“Not surprising, you’re a huge lanky nerd,” she said fondly, turning her face up for the kiss she made him give her before she relaxed her control over him. “Thank you, Jonah.” She caressed his cheek before turning from his embrace. “I know I said I wanted a weapon or my power, but I think I want both, just to be on the safe side.”

“I’m not going to give you anything lethal,” he said immediately, and she rolled her eyes.

“I wasn’t _asking_ for anything lethal. Do you _really_ think I’d start killing people after becoming a superhero when I didn’t as a villain?” 

“I think you’d kill people if they hurt Max.”

“I won’t kill them,” she said. “I’ll just make them kill themselves a few days from now. Method dependent on the condition I find him in.” Jonah’s eyes widened, and her lips twitched. “He’s spent his life doing nothing but good. Anyone who harms him deserves the worst I can come up with.” She laced her fingers together, stretched her arms over her head and leaned backwards until her spine popped, and straightened with a sigh. “Time to suit up, Sunshine. Places to be, goons to wreck, boyfriend to save.”

Heston Industries HQ was in the center of Gizmonic City; the trip to the outskirts of town and the sketchy neighborhood their target was located in was an awkward twenty minute drive in the Sunmobile, which Jonah made invisible by bending light away from them a couple of blocks before they reached their destination and he parked in front of that sketchy van. He looked at Kinga as she fixed her mask in place, trepidation in his eyes. “Be careful,” he said.

“Don’t you worry about me,” she said with a smirk. “I’ll be just fine. You can worry about Max, though.”

“You’re way too late to stop me from doing that.”

“Keep the engine running. We shouldn’t be long.” She leaned over to kiss Jonah’s cheek and hopped out of the car, a smile lifting her lips as she walked up to the back entrance of the building and put her hand on the door.

Kinga could feel the people inside, most minds curiously blunted, only a couple sharp, and she reached out until she found what she was looking for, the familiar taste of Max’s mind faint at the distance when she was used to only feeling him that way when he was so close he was actually inside her. Her power wasn’t a location device; she couldn’t figure out where he was in the building, only that he _was_ in the building, and she wasn’t leaving it without him.

She hooked her control into the first person to come close, forcing them to open the back door for her. The man who opened it looked abstracted, as if he were daydreaming, and Kinga squinted at him for a moment, unsure what was wrong with him but sure she could still control him despite whatever it was. “How many people are in this building?” she asked, and the man blinked dully before answering.

“Twenty-six.”

“Where are you holding Max Masters? Take me to him.” The man turned around and started walking, and Kinga went into her belt pouch for a taser button with the hand that wasn’t holding the tranquiliser dart gun Jonah had equipped her with, following him two steps behind. They didn’t pass many rooms on that first floor, but Kinga reached into all of them mentally and forced the people inside to drop what they were doing and cower on the floor. Her hapless thrall lead her into an elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor, and Kinga eyed him on the ride up, noting a scar on his temple and the dull look in his eyes. “Who do you work for?”

“Brain Drain…” Kinga’s brows shot up to hear the name of a villain that even other villains shunned for their brutal tactics in controlling their own henchmen. She’d felt nauseous the first time she’d heard about their methods: lobotomizing ex-cons and brainwashing them until they were little more than automatons. Holy shit, _that_ was who had their hands on Max? The thought of what might have been done to him made her feel like she would throw up.

“Are they here?” 

“Yes.” Kinga swallowed hard. Her priority was saving Max, of course, but if she left the building without dealing with Brain Drain, she’d earn their dynamic trio a bonafide nemesis with a billion-dollar grudge. She closed her eyes, extended her reach through the entire building, excluding only Max and her guide from her compulsion, and forced everyone to the floor. Only one mind felt alarmed, and she focused the strongest coercion she’d ever summoned to push into that mind: _stand up, walk to the wall, and slam your head into it repeatedly_. The doors of the elevator slid open and she followed the goon down the hall to a locked door with a keypad next to it. The closer she came to the door, the more despondent she felt, a clear sign that she was approaching one hopeless broadcast empath, but the man leading her was apparently unaffected by the heavy depression weighing in the air.

“Open it and then go lock yourself in a different room,” Kinga said, and her guide keyed in the code and walked away. She took a steadying breath and pushed open the door to find her partner balled up on the bare cot pushed into the corner of the room, his back to the wall and his arms wrapped around his knees, head lowered until all she could see were silver curls. “Max!” When he looked up at the sound of her voice, she gasped at the sight of his blackened eye and bruised cheek. “Oh, Max, baby, what did they _do_ to you?”

“Kinga!” His relief nearly staggered her, a tsunami of hope where a moment ago he’d been radiating pure despair. “God, I’m so glad to see you, how did you get past them all?” She pointed at her bare throat, and his jaw dropped. “ _How_?”

“Jonah sprung me so I could come save you,” she said, coming into the room to lay a hand against his cheek. “Come on, let’s get you home.” His legs were shaking underneath him when he stood up. “Put your arm around me…” She could have made him do it without speaking the words, but she didn’t need to compel his obedience when he trusted her so completely. “We were so scared for you,” she breathed into his hair, kissing his temple softly. 

“I’m all right,” he lied, not realizing that his pain was radiating out of him with every step he took on a twisted ankle. She supported him down the hallway and into the elevator at the end, effortlessly dominating every other person in the building with the force of her fury leaving them following her orders to hurt themselves in the same way she’d compelled who she hoped was Brain Drain until long after they’d made their escape. She’d triggered the tracker in her super suit so Jonah knew exactly where to retrieve them as they exited the building, dropping his illusion of an empty street as they climbed into the Sunmobile and sped away.

“What did they do to you?” Jonah asked, appalled at Max’s battered condition, and Max shrugged and winced as the motion pulled at the bruises they couldn’t see through his torn clothes.

“I think they just wanted to hurt me for the sake of hurting me,” he said, sounding absolutely exhausted. “They’re… they were damaged, somehow. I couldn’t feel them, they couldn’t feel me. I had no effect at all on any of them. They were human, I’m pretty sure, but something was wrong with them.”

“Something’s wrong with them now,” Kinga said. “If they weren’t brain damaged already, I’m pretty sure making them slam their heads into walls until they knock themselves out did the job.”

“Kinga!” Max sounded shocked, but Jonah just glanced at her in the rear-view mirror and nodded. “Is that what those sounds were on our way out?”

“Yes,” she said, and put her hand on his unbruised cheek to turn his face slightly. “I was tempted to make them kill each other, but I knew you’d be unhappy if that was how I rescued you. So I just made them neutralize themselves.” Max winced as she traced the edge of his black eye with one fingertip, and she bit her lip. “I don’t want to be taken from you,” she admitted quietly. “I don’t want to be sent back to prison, away from the ones I love. I want to stay here at your side and help you do good things. And they won’t let me stay if I start taking lives.”

“...did you just say that you love us?” Max’s eyes widened, gaze locked on hers, and Kinga nodded slightly.

“Yes. I do. I love you both. I couldn’t make myself say anything about it until you were taken, but the thought of losing you is… unbearable.” She laced her gloved fingers through his bare ones and lifted his hand to kiss the back of it. “I know you’re never going to love me like you love each other, but—” Max leaned in and shut her up with a kiss, adoration crashing into her like a tidal wave as their lips met, and she gasped and let him lick into her mouth with the desperation of a man who’d thought he’d never get to do this again.

“Of _course_ I love you,” he breathed as he sat back. “I’ve hardly been _subtle_ about it, have I?”

“You’re not subtle about anything you feel,” Jonah said fondly. “For what it’s worth… I love you too, Kinga. I already did, but you set it in stone by helping me rescue Max.”

“Good,” Kinga said. “It sounds like the kind of romance novel bullshit I hate, but… the two of you turned my life around and I’m glad to live up to the person you want me to be.”

“I’m glad I was right about the kind of person I thought you could be,” Max said. “And I’m _really_ glad that you love me enough to prove it like this.”

“Oh, Jonah, if you didn’t tell the cops to go there already, you should do that,” Kinga said, and Jonah gave her a mildly indignant look through the mirror.

“No, today’s my first day as a superhero and I have no idea what I’m doing,” he snarked. “I called the cops before you were even out of the building. Who was behind this, anyways?”

“I don’t know,” Max said. “I only saw henchmen, and all they did was kidnap me, knock me around, and toss me in a cell. No one ever came to monologue at me or even gloat a little.”

“It was Brain Drain,” Kinga said, and Max’s eyes went wide.

“ _Oh_. Holy shit, they _were_ damaged, they’d had their brains scrambled.”

“Twice,” Kinga said. “Once surgically and once psychically. God, how much do you have to fuck up someone’s brain to make them immune to emotions? No wonder you never saw Brain Drain. You could have done something to _them_ , but you couldn’t influence their goons.”

“That was so fucking terrifying. I was scared it was something wrong with _me_ and not something wrong with _them_ , like I’d—” Max’s hand came up to touch his throat, and then he reached out to touch hers instead. “You’re breaking the terms of the SRP,” he said quietly. 

“I know,” Kinga said. “But I’m not allowing them to collar me again. I _will_ stop anyone who tries. Including either of you.”

“As if either of us would do that to you,” Jonah said. She arched a brow at him.

“Sunshine, it wasn’t even two hours ago you told me not to make you regret taking it off me.”

“That doesn’t mean I’d put it back _on_ you. _I_ trust you.” Jonah paused for a second, then added, “If you want to be sure no one puts that thing back around your neck while you’re unconscious, you should move in with us.”

“Wait, _what_?”

“Move in with us,” Max repeated. “You hate your apartment, you hate your civilian lifestyle… move in with us. That’d show the Council that we trust you, that we’re a moderating influence on you...”

“That we’re torching the fraternization clause and snorting the ashes,” Kinga said. “They’ll probably think I’m controlling you both.”

“They’ll probably realize that I’m the only person who can influence you as much as you can influence me,” Max said. “Or they will after I point it out, again, after pointing it out when I agreed to partner you, and additionally pointing out that the reason you’re uncollared now is because you love me enough to come rescue me.”

“And because Jonah helped me,” Kinga said, and Jonah snorted.

“We’re all implicated in things we technically shouldn’t be doing,” he said. “I can pretty much guarantee that if you _don’t_ move in, they’ll make an attempt to collar you again, but no one’s going to try to cross all three of us in my domain like that.”

“Oh, I’m _not_ saying no. Of _course_ I’ll move in with you, are you kidding? Like I’d really resist getting to live with a hot billionaire and a silver fox who are both head over heels for me in the most advanced building in the country?”

“You just miss living lavish,” Jonah teased her, and she smirked at him. 

“I was accustomed to a certain lifestyle,” she allowed. 

“Getting everything you wanted the moment you wanted it,” Max said, and she turned her smirk on him. 

“I got _you_ back pretty soon after I wanted you back.”

“And I’m endlessly grateful you did.” Jonah parked the Sunmobile when they reached the Fortress of Sol-itude and came around to lift Max out of his seat in a bridal carry. Max yelped and threw his arms around Jonah’s neck. “I _can_ walk, you know.”

“You couldn’t see how badly you were limping when you left that building,” Jonah chided. “Let me coddle you, please. I was so scared, I just need to see that you’re really all right.” He carried Max into the workshop and gently set him down in the big leather desk chair before cupping Max’s unbruised cheek in one big hand. “Your poor face…”

“It stings like a bitch,” Max said, wincing a little. “I don’t remember the last time I got punched in the face. It hasn’t happened since I got my powers.”

“Well, stop poking at him,” Kinga said, coming over with a wrapped ice pack from the minifridge in one hand and the oversized first aid kit in the other. “Here, hold this on your eye.” Her fingers fell to the rip at the shoulder seam of his sweater and gently caressed his arm. “Tell me where else it hurts?”

“My left ankle’s wrenched, I might have a broken rib on the same side, and I’ve been dizzy since the second or third blow to the head,” Max responded promptly, and Kinga clicked her tongue and went to one knee to ease his shoe off his foot. “I’m not nauseous, just dizzy.”

“Probably still a concussion,” Jonah said, turning Max’s chin up and staring into his eyes for a moment before bending to kiss him. “We’ll keep an eye on you.”

“You always do,” Max said fondly.

“Hey, Max, guess how much your ransom was,” Kinga said as she peeled his sock off, gasping at the sight of his swollen joint. “Oh, we’re gonna need another ice pack.” She got up to get it, leaving Max blinking after her.

“God, I have no idea,” Max said. “A million dollars? Five million?”

“You’re selling yourself _incredibly_ short,” Jonah said. “By entire digits.”

“A hundred million?” Max guessed.

“I think he’s forgotten your net worth, Jonah,” Kinga said. “Brain Drain wanted a billion for you.”

“Oh, come _on_ ,” Max scoffed. “I’m not worth a billion dollars.”

“Max, darling, I’d trade every asset I have for your safe return if I had to,” Jonah said. “You’re worth so much more than a billion dollars.”

“It’s just his good luck that taking that damn collar off me was free,” Kinga quipped, settling herself back on the floor in front of Max and pulling his injured foot onto her lap to hold the ice pack to it. “I think we should be _very_ open about what happened today, though. Brain Drain should be a cautionary tale to anyone else who thinks that kidnapping Max might be a good idea.”

“How open?” Jonah asked, glancing down at her. “People still don’t know what your real power is.”

“We don’t have to say _how_ I saved Max, only _that_ I saved him,” she said. “It’s not like Brain Drain’s goons are going to gossip about what happened, and _they’re_ not ever getting out of prison. Let the world think I taser-buttoned every person in the building like some kind of ninja. As long as they know that if anyone fucks with him, I’m going to raze them to the ground.” 

“I’m okay with this plan,” Max said. “I’m totally, one hundred percent okay with everyone knowing you’re so protective of me that you’ll destroy the entire criminal empire of anyone who hurts me.” 

“I wonder how long _your_ secret identity’s going to survive, now,” Jonah said thoughtfully. “Because the only reason mine stayed secret as long as it did was because I paid several people a lot of money.” 

“That’s a two part question,” Kinga said. “How long will it take people to learn that I’m Kinga Forrester, and how long it will take them to realize that I used to be Ruby Regent?”

“How long will it take them to realize we’re all in love?” Max asked.

“Well, considering I only admitted it to _you_ today, I’m hoping for at least a couple months of that staying under wraps,” Kinga said. “But moving in here with you is going to complicate things if I’m seen coming and going.”

“There’s secret ways in and out,” Jonah said. “Nobody knew Max lived here for six years.” 

“Can you _imagine_ the splash we’d make if you brought us both to your next big fancy thing though?” Max asked with a laugh. 

“Jonah told me you like to dance,” Kinga said, smiling up at him. “Once your ankle’s better, I’d like to indulge you in that.”

“In public?”

“Well, I don’t _require_ an audience for my perfection, but… god, no one would talk about anything else for _weeks_ once we went public, would they? It’d be hilarious.”

“They’d call you a homewrecker,” Jonah said, and she snorted. 

“As if I wouldn’t take a spin with you too? Now that you’ve proven how well you take my direction…” 

“Did you make him dance with you?” Max’s voice was more intense than Kinga thought the question warranted, but she pointed to the center of the workshop.

“Right there. We tangoed.”

“Magic Voice, _please_ tell me you have proof of this,” Max said.

“ _I’m offended that you even allow for the chance of me not having footage of everything that happens in this building,_ ” Magic Voice said. “ _Of course I do. Want a replay?_ ”

“Excuse me, we’re not done taking care of him yet,” Kinga said.

“You don’t know how much better seeing the two of you tango will make me feel,” Max said promptly. 

“Oh, I’ll know exactly how it makes you feel as you’re feeling it, your control is nonexistent when it comes to the two of us,” Kinga said. “You know, we _could_ just do it again, you don’t have to settle for security footage.”

“ _Excuse_ me _, it’s not_ just _security footage_ ,” Magic Voice said in an offended tone, and the tango she’d played for them before sounded in the air again as a life-sized, full-color hologram of Jonah and Kinga appeared, retracing their steps across the workshop floor. Max gasped and dropped the ice pack from his eye to better enjoy the spectacle, and Kinga turned to watch, a smirk tilting her lips.

“Gosh, sunbeam, we look _hot_ together.”

“Yeah you do,” Max said fervently and unnecessarily, his excitement popping through them both like a thousand champagne bubbles and getting a breathless giggle out of Jonah. “You know what? No. You can’t dance with him like this in public. I want to be the only person who gets to see this.”

“Possessive much?” Kinga laughed.

“Do any other dance you want with him, but yeah, I’m going to be possessive as fuck of watching you _tango_ , are you kidding? This hits so many of my buttons that I would probably embarrass myself if I watched you do it at some gala event.”

“ _The three of you won’t keep your relationship under wraps for fifteen entire minutes the first time you go somewhere fancy together,_ ” Magic Voice said. “ _Someone’s going to notice you eyefucking sooner than you think._ ” 

“Magic Voice!” Max sounded shocked, but Kinga just laughed.

“Well, she’s not _wrong_.”

“ _You’re worse than newlyweds_ ,” Magic Voice said. “ _It’s pretty funny, honestly. I haven’t seen Jonah this twitterpated since Max confessed he loved him six years ago. It’s nice to see you all this happy._ ”

“Twitterpated,” Jonah repeated skeptically, and Max reached for his hand.

“It’s an accurate word.”

“I’m not twitterpated, but I’m _definitely_ susceptible to eyefucking you when you’re in tuxes,” Kinga said. 

“Eyefucking nothing, this is sex on the dance floor,” Max said with a broad gesture at the hologram right before the image of Kinga caressed the image of Jonah’s cheek and they both winked out of existence. “That gave me _life_.”

“Maybe, but you’re not back up to full HP,” Jonah said. Kinga snorted.

“ _Nerd_.”

“Well, I feel like my mana’s been replenished,” Max said.

“ _Nerds_!”

“You’re going to have to deal with being in love with a couple of nerds,” Max said.

“She knew what she was getting into,” Jonah said.

“The hell I did,” Kinga said. “I thought I’d just twist you both around my little finger until I got you to spring me and then I’d disappear.”

“Well, you’ve been sprung,” Jonah said, touching the back of her neck. “Are you going to vanish as soon as we take our eyes off you?”

“Now I’m intending on demanding the center of your bed. Pretty sure you won’t have a problem keeping track of me when I’m between you.” She bit her lip against a gasp as Max’s satisfaction broke over her mind like an avalanche when their eyes met. “Don’t worry, boys. I’m not going anywhere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming for the ride, I hope you liked the fic!


End file.
